The RWBY Cast Reacts to Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
by The Draigg
Summary: When the RWBY cast (Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Ironwood, Winter, Roman, and Neo) gets trapped in the collective unconsciousness of the mutiverse, there is only one thing that is left possible for them to do: watch Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, of course! With humor and terror galore, their reactions will be rather interesting, at the very least. So, bask in the reactions!
1. Chapter 1

**_The RWBY Cast Reacts to Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket_**

Chapter 1: Welcome to the UC (And CU)

**Hello readers! It's me, The Draigg, back to writing a RWBY fan fiction! It sure has been a while since I've written one, hasn't it? Anyway, this is me deciding to rework an old fanfic of mine, one where Team RWBY reacted to Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. I stopped it before it was finished due to it not really meeting my standards back then, but I think I can nail it this time around. Just keep in mind this takes place around early Volume 3-ish. Basically right before shit hit the fan in RWBY. So anyway, I hope you'll enjoy my literary interpretations of franchises that I don't own! Let's get to the story!**

**XXX**

"Ruby! Ruby! Wake up!"

"Urghhh…" Ruby Rose groaned. Why would someone wake her up out of nowhere like that? It was probably the middle of the night still!

"C'mon, wake up already!" the familiar voice insisted. After that, Ruby felt a hand grab her right arm and shake it vigorously, trying its hardest to rouse her from slumber.

"Fine, fine, I'm up, I'm up…" mumbled Ruby, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Once her sight came into focus though, she was greeted with an unusual sight. "W-what's this? What's going on?"

While Ruby did remember seeing all of her teammates in their pajamas before they went to bed, she didn't remember them falling asleep in what appeared to be a movie theater. Nor did she remember any of the people hanging around Team RWBY being near them when they fell asleep either.

And yet there were an assorted group of people all around the theater, all dressed in their night clothes. General James Ironwood, dressed in just a tank top and sweat shorts, pounded angrily on the theater door while Winter Schnee in a robe and night gown looked on with a level of concern. Team JNPR were all huddled over in a corner, with Jaune and Pyrrha openly talking about escape plans while Ren tried to get Nora to pay attention. And still seated to their left, was Roman Torchwick in a set of silk pajamas and Neo Politan in a rather fluffy pink robe. Those last two looked completely unconcerned, with Roman puffing on a cigar and Neo idly checking her nails.

"Looks like we've been kidnapped while we were asleep." commented Blake, off to Ruby's side. Her cat ears were clearly perked up in a state of alert.

Yang shrugged. "I still think it's a weird shared dream."

"Now isn't the time for speculation, we just need to get out of here!" chastised Weiss, letting go of Ruby's arm.

"Whoa whoa whoa, this is, uh, freaky?" was Ruby's clearly confused comment. This was a whole lot to take in in such a short time of being awake.

"You ain't kidding, Little Red," Roman commented, overhearing Ruby. "Never thought I'd ever dream of you. It'd honestly be concerning, if it wasn't fun to watch you and your little hunter pals flounder around like this."

Neo nodded and smiled at Roman's comment. More specifically, she flashed a rather smug smile over at Yang. Yang barred her teeth at Neo, who only gave her an overly-dramatic look of fake shock in response.

"Ice cream bitch…" Yang muttered under her breath angrily.

"Hey, if you want to lend a hand over here, I'm willing to accept it!" Ironwood called over to the seated group.

"If you can help, now would be the time!" added Winter.

"Winter? You're here too?" Weiss called out. At that, Winter rushed over to her sister's side and gave her a small hug.

"They got you as well, I see…" Winter said, her tone of voice only barely covering her sisterly concern.

At Ironwood's call, Jaune's voice perked up. "Hey, uh, General Ironwood! How about we try to get out through the ceiling?"

"It'll be like a spy movie!" added Nora.

Ironwood rubbed his face in frustration. "Unless you've got a ladder or can form a human pyramid, I can't see that working."

Winter walked away from Weiss and over to where Ironwood was standing, staring at the ceiling all the way. "I agree, sir. Also, I don't see any panels that we can open and enter up there."

"Ah, right…" Jaune muttered, before turning back to the rest of his team.

"_That won't be necessary. The show will begin momentarily"_ a voice said out of nowhere. The confused group of trapped people looked around for a source of the voice, but couldn't fund one.

"Show?" Blake asked out loud.

"_Correct. You are here for a screening of a show. A good one, in fact._"

Weiss angrily crossed her arms. "Kidnapping us just to watch something? Are you out of your mind?!"

"_Technically, none of you are here at all. Your bodies are still in your beds. Your minds, however, are now accessing the collective unconsciousness of humanity across space and time._"

"Uhh… what?" Jaune flatly asked.

"Yeah, all of that sounds crazy to me." agreed Yang.

"I can't help but agree with them. That just sounds absurd." Winter commented.

The voice sounded a tad bit annoyed when it spoke next. "_Look, I don't make the rules, I just present them. And speaking of presentations, the theater will now begin seating._"

As if reality warped to allow it, everyone in the room teleported to a chair in the audience seating, as if they had been sitting there all along. All of them were neatly gathered around the seats that Team RWBY currently occupied.

"Nice magic trick." Roman said.

"Gah! Don't do that out of nowhere!" complained Jaune.

"Whoa! That was faster than anything I can do!" Ruby exclaimed.

Pyrrha rubbed her arms, as if she was cold. "That certainly felt… odd."

"It was pretty unpleasant…" agreed Ren, holding his stomach. It looked like he was going to get sick from the teleportation.

"Stop toying around with us and just tell us why we're here!" Ironwood demanded to know, shrugging off the odd feeling of teleportation.

"_Like I said, you are going to watch a show. It's honestly not hard to do._"

"And if we watch your show, will you let us go without harm?" Winter asked the voice.

"_Your bodies are already unharmed, but I can guarantee that your minds will still be intact once the link to the collective unconsciousness is severed._"

"So that's a promise of safety then." Winter then said.

"_Indeed._"

Winter sighed as she turned to Ironwood. "…This might just be our best bet, sir. At least until we decide on a better plan."

General Ironwood crossed his arms and frowned. "I suppose so, Specialist Schnee."

"Uh, voice guy?" piped up Ruby. "Why are we all having this dream thing? This is just weird. Super weird, even."

"_I'm under no obligation to answer that, nor to make this scenario make any sense to you. Just sit back and enjoy the show._"

Roman blew out a ring of cigar smoke. "Charming guy, that voice." he deadpanned.

"You're asking a lot of people you kidnapped." Blake said to the voice.

"_Any choice you had in the matter was removed once you connected to the collective unconsciousness._"

"Great. Just great…" grumbled Weiss, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I mean… it's a free show, at least?" offered Ruby to the rest of her team. It didn't seem like they were taking her attempt to lighten the situation all that much, judging by the expressions on their faces.

After a moment of letting it sink in, Yang sighed. "I guess we don't have much of a choice… and I guess you're right, Ruby. At least it's free."

"Maybe it'll be fun?" suggested Pyrrha, even though her tone of voice suggested she didn't fully believe what she was saying.

"Yeah!" wholeheartedly agreed Nora. "How did they know that watching a movie in a theater in my pajamas was one of my life goals? They nailed it!"

"Whatever the case is, we'll just have to see it through," Ren observed.

"_It is settled then. Now, before we begin the show, there is something that I am obligated to cover._"

"Oh, so now you're obligated to something?" Weiss hissed.

"_Don't interrupt. Anyway, there is a bit of context that you must know before watching this show. This show is a part of a media series called Gundam. In this case, this show is set during the Universal Century era, where in the year 0079, space colonies orbiting a planet named Earth declared independence from the reigning planetary government, labeling themselves the Principality of Zeon. They launched a war of independence that lasted one year, and led to half of the population of both the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation being destroyed in the conflict. This is due to the presence of Mobile Suits, large humanoid mecha that are among the most powerful weapons in the war. With that being said, this series covers events that occur towards the end of the war, near the beginning of the year 0080. Do you understand?_"

"So, it's like a sci-fi thing?" Jaune asked.

"_Correct._"

"I'll admit, it does sound kinda cool…" muttered Jaune.

"Pfft. What a bunch of nerd shit." Roman said dismissively.

Neo pulled out her scroll and opened a text-to-speech application. "Agreed."

"_It doesn't matter what you all think. You are going to watch it regardless._"

"It'll be fun to watch you flounder around watching this, Roman." Ruby smugly threw back at the thief. On his part, Roman gave Ruby a nasty scowl and turned his attention over to the screen.

"_And so, without further ado, we present Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket!_"

The lights in the theater dimmed, and the screen lit up to begin the show.

**XXX**

**And there you have it, the introduction to the story! I hope I provided good enough of an incredibly brief explanation of the Universal Century of Gundam. And if you haven't seen that before, I highly recommend you go check it out right now. I'm not joking, open up a new tab and find a place to watch Mobile Suit Gundam. You won't regret it.**

**Anyways, this has been The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: How Many Miles to the Battlefield? (Part 1)

**Heyo, it's The Draigg here again! Just to do a little bit of house cleaning before we get to the reactions and commentary, I should note that the transcription of the episode will be in bold text, while commentary and narrative stuff will be in normal text. I'm sure you guys would figure that out anyway once you started reading, but I wanted to be absolutely sure you understood that. Now, let's get on with the reactions!**

**XXX**

**A title card is displayed, showing the title, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080, before fading to black.**

**We fade up to a shot of a Principality of Zeon submarine cruising under the chilly Antarctic waters. It carries a strike team of Zeon mobile suit commandos, named Steiner, Garcia, Misha, and Andy. A voice starts talking over the shots of the sub.**

**"****5 knots to target point. Cyclops Unit, ready for launch." calls out the operator of the Zeon sub.**

**"****Cyclops Unit ready for launch." Steiner calmly says.**

**The Zeon operator continues his launch preparations. "Launch bays immersed. Open hatches number 2, number 4, number 1, number 3. Launch Cyclops Unit."**

**Hatches on the bottom of the sub open, and a team of Hygogg mobile suits dive out. Each one of them is colored sea blue, while Steiner's is colored darker, as per his leadership status.**

"Ooooh, those things are so cool!" cheered Ruby.

Yang enthusiastically nodded. "Yeah, looks like they're packing a lot of power!"

"Those things are a lot sleeker than the mechs Atlas uses." Blake commented.

"It makes sense, considering they're being used underwater." Weiss added.

**Steiner opens comms to the rest of his team. "All units keep depth at 150 and head for the target point."**

**"****Roger." the others respond.**

**"****We're lagging 15 minutes behind schedule," Steiner notes, pulling a cigarette out of the box with his teeth. "Accelerate to 30 knots. We'll land at 1500 hours as planned. Reports say there's a fog on the surface and the temperature is -12 degrees."**

**The rest of the squad preps themselves for battle. Andy grooms his hair in the reflection of his monitors. Misha takes a swig from a flask dangling from the top of his cockpit.**

"The insides of those things look clunkier than the Paladins I've stolen. No hologram readouts or anything." Roman observed. He got some mean glances from nearly everybody by saying that.

**"****Misha, you can warm up but don't go nuts with the booze," Steiner tiredly says, as if this has happened before. Misha chuckles and puts the flask back.**

"Now that's just a plain lie," Roman snorted. "I fought you brats with at least two tumblers of the good stuff in me while piloting that Paladin."

"Yeah, and we kicked your ass. So what does that say about you?" was Yang's retort.

Roman sneered at Yang while Neo had a small chuckle at her partner's expense.

**"****I'm reading a warm current flow from the iceberg," reports Garcia, tying a headband around his forehead. "This undersea passage may lead us into the base."**

**"****Garcia, Misha, proceed ahead on course as planned. Andy and I'll go check out the passage." orders Steiner.**

**The squad replies, "Roger."**

**As the team breaks up, Andy and Steiner's Hygoggs enter an underwater tunnel. Meanwhile, Garcia and Misha launch themselves to the surface, beginning their assault on an Earth Federation base. Misha draws first blood, launching several missiles from a pod attached to his Hygogg's arm. He takes out a few hangars and buildings with them, before sliding to a halt. Garcia, meanwhile, starts firing on the base's runway, and also crushes an airplane with his mobile suit's arm. The base is thrown into a complete panic as sirens blare.**

"Whoa, missile and laser arms!" Nora cried, her eyes gleaming in excitement. "We should get those!"

"That would be problematic for a number of reasons, Nora." Ren chided.

**"****We're under attack by two Gogg-types. Under attack by two Gog-types. Brown Unit, set up a defensive line. Transport team, hurry up and get those containers loaded!" A Federation operator orders from the base's command center. Several GM mobile suits launch out of underground bunkers to meet the attacking Hygoggs.**

"Those ones look a lot closer to what we're fielding at the moment." Winter said, observing the blockier white and grey GM mobile suits.

**"****We still got two more left! Even if we hurry, it'll take ten minutes to load them!" a worker from the cargo crew reports.**

**"****You've got five minutes!" the Federation operator barks back.**

**"****Get real!" the worker shoots back. The shot shows the crates being slowly loaded down a sloping elevator, towards a waiting space rocket.**

**Steiner and Andy come out of the water near a large maintenance tunnel. Meanwhile, Misha is attacking a GM mobile suit. He manages to blast apart the GM's hand holding its rifle. The disabled hand starts to break off while the gun is still firing, and the bullets manage to hit the GM cockpit by accident, putting the suit out of commission. Misha chuckles and pops the lid off of his flask.**

"Well, that's just plain unfortunate..." sighed Pyrrha.

Jaune scratched his head. "I guess they don't have very good armor plating."

**A short distance away, Garcia is pinned down behind a destroyed cargo plane by two GMs. Sliding out of cover, he quickly grabs one of the GMs to use as a shield. After firing a few stray shots at its comrade, the other GM stops firing. Garcia makes sure to fire on it, making it disabled. Then he finishes off the GM he was using as cover. Garcia can't help but smirk to himself.**

"That was even worse…" Pyrrha murmured.

"Those soldiers mustn't be very well trained," said Ironwood. "Otherwise they wouldn't have shot their own ally."

**"****Hey Captain, I don't see it in the transport plane." he reports to Steiner.**

**"****Same story at the hangars," Misha adds, looking into a partially destroyed hangar. "I think these ground targets are all decoys."**

**"****Andy, what's happening on your end?" Steiner calmly asks, while taking cover from a GM in the tunnel.**

**Andy's Hygogg is shown ascending a cargo elevator. It's slightly battle damaged, with only one missile pod on his mobile suit remaining. "I'm on a lift near the exit," he reports.**

**"****Check it out. Watch your step." says Steiner.**

**"****Yes sir!" Andy crisply replies.**

**Andy's Hygogg makes it to the top of the lift, revealing it to be the same on the cargo was on a few minutes ago. The shuttle's engines are starting to smoke, getting ready to launch. "Captain, they've got a shuttle getting ready to launch. It could be on the containers they're loading into it!" he reports.**

**"****Can you send me a visual?" Steiner asks, having taken out the GM that had him pinned. He's now ascending the elevator too.**

**"****Just a still, I've got video problems." Andy says, his image crackling on Steiner's view screen.**

**"****Fine, do it," says Steiner. He sees an image of the crates being loaded onto the rocket on his screen. "Keep it from launching! You're authorized to use your missile!"**

"I wonder how big the explosion would be if a missile really hit that thing…" Yang idly wondered aloud.

"If it was loaded with combustible dust, the whole base would be devastated. It's a risky thing they're planning to do." was Weiss' reply.

**"****Yes sir!" Andy says. He readies his missile pod to shoot, but, he's forced behind cover by a GM. "They've got a GM covering it, I'm pinned down! It's gonna get away!"**

**The crates finished being loaded onto the rocket's shuttle, and the hatches close. Steiner is getting closer to Andy on the lift.**

**"****Hold on, Andy, I'm coming." reassures Steiner.**

**The launch tower pulls away from the rocket and the shuttle. The engines are starting to smoke more.**

**"****They've started the countdown, there's no time!" Andy exclaims. "I'm gonna go for it!"**

**"****Andy, wait!" Steiner yells over his comm line.**

**Andy pulls himself out of cover, firing a few small shots in the direction of the GM. He then aims his missile pod at the rocket and gets ready to fire. However, the GM fires on him again, hitting Andy's Hygogg straight in the chest. The inside of the cockpit is shredded by gunfire, Andy included.**

"Those bullets hit him directly right off the bat. Did he not have Aura or something?" Ruby asked.

"_Correct,_" said the voice out of nowhere. "_The world where this show has come from has no Aura nor Dust to speak of._"

The room went silent as the episode briefly paused to let that sink in for everyone.

"Is… is that even possible?" Yang couldn't help but ask.

"It's fiction, kiddo. Anything's possible." said Roman, before taking another drag of his cigar.

"Well yeah, this is, but I wonder if a world like that really exists out there…" Yang mused further.

Ironwood grimaced slightly. "Combat would require a stronger breed of men and women if none of them can use Aura at all."

Winter nodded. "I wonder how they handle it all…"

Roman gave a shrug in Winter's direction. "Same way anybody handles bad shit. Just surviving. There's not a whole lot to it. You'd think you military types would know that."

That earned Roman two looks of scorn from both Ironwood and Winter.

"It's a shame that people have to fight each other that way…" lamented Pyrrha. Jaune gave Pyrrha a small pat on the shoulder at that.

"They must be pretty brave then, if they have nothing to back them up…" quietly said Ruby, with a mix of both sadness and admiration in her voice.

Blake nodded to Ruby's comment. "People are capable of a lot of things when pushed up against the wall."

A rather somber mood filled the room as the feature resumed playing on the screen.

**"****Andy!" Steiner yells, getting to the top of the elevator just in time to see Andy's mobile suit fall over. The missile pod fires off, jostled by the impact of the fall. The explosion launches Andy and Steiner's mobile suits out of the elevator area. They couldn't stop the rocket from launching.**

**The rest of Cyclops Team looks on as the shuttle flies through the air, towards its destination. It's headed for outer space.**

**Amid the ruins of the base, Steiner has climbed out of his mobile suit and is now holding Andy's body in his arms. He grimaces, before unleashing an anguished yell to the sky.**

Ironwood frowned at that sight. It felt sadly familiar.

**On that note, the shot pans to the sky and then space, where the opening credits start to play.**

**As the (rather upbeat) opening theme plays, it shows images of the crest of Earth. Then, it moves to a shot of a space colony, Libot, rotating in space. Then, daily life on the colony is shown, with people commuting through the city to work, and school children running to their classes. Not much is different from your average town. But instead of Earth, it is space where people are born and raised… And die.**

"I wonder if we'll ever be able to build such things someday." Weiss couldn't help but say that, looking in awe at the space colony.

"Perhaps someday, sister…" Winter said, equally in awe.

**After the credits sequence, focus is shifted on the school children shown in the credits. More specifically, Alfred and his friends Telcott and Chay. Al sticks his tongue out at a girl named Dorothy before sitting with his friends to have lunch.**

**"****Al, c'mon! They've got hamburgers today!" Telcott says to Al as he sits down with drinks.**

**"****Aw, it's just that synth meat again…" Al scowls as he gives his friends drinks.**

**"****That's the third time this week. I'm getting sick, it's gross!" complains Chay.**

"I'm with this kid, it sounds terrible!" announced Nora to nobody in particular.

"Don't they already have meat like that made out of plants or something?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, but only Ren eats that. I don't understand the appeal at all!" replied Nora.

Ren gave Nora a patient look. "It's healthier and tastes the same as normal meat. If you'd just try it, I know you'd like it, Nora."

Nora shook her head. "No way! I'd know the difference. It just wouldn't be the same!"

Ren just sighed and dropped the subject. That would be a battle for another day.

**"****C'mon, complaining won't make it taste better." Telcott teases.**

**"****I wish I was like you, you can eat anything you want…" Chay grumbles.**

**"****My mom says there's less stuff because of the war with the Zeon and the Federation." notes Telcott.**

"Blockades," Ironwood flatly stated. "A classic technique. Starving out the enemy is always the preferable solution than fighting them."

"But General Ironwood Sir, those are just normal people!" observed Ruby.

Ironwood let out a small sigh. "People always shoulder the burden of the government's actions, civilian or not."

**Al takes a sip of his drink and audibly cringes from the taste. Then, hearing Telcott's remark, he asks, "Hey, what do you mean with the war against the Zeon and the Federation? What does that have to do with us at all?"**

**"****It keeps the supply ships from coming in all the time," explains Telcott, before taking a bite of his synthetic meat. Looking at his friend's lunches, he then says, "Hey, I'll eat those if you don't want 'em, okay?"**

**"****Sure…" Al and Chay reply at the same time. Telcott puts the lunches under his tray, while a smirk grows on Chay's face.**

**"****I've got something really cool to show you," Chay says, adjusting his chair. He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. "Ta-da! A Federal Forces rank badge! A real one!"**

**Al takes immediately to the red and gold ranking badge. "Oh wow, can I hold it?"**

**"****Just a little. My big brother's a mobile suit pilot." Chay brags. Al takes the badge from Chay's hand and looks it over.**

**Al asks, "He gave it to you?" while Dorothy can't help but listen in, annoyed in the background.**

**"****Uh-huh, and it was a lotta trouble too." replies Chay. By now, Dorothy is walking over to the group.**

**"****Cool, I don't believe it! A real badge from a Fed pilot!" Al gushes.**

Ironwood rubbed his temples. "Uniform parts aren't meant to be souvenirs like that. This Federation army is hardly impressive so far."

**Dorothy choses this time to barge in. "He's making it up. The Federation doesn't even have any mobile suits, you dummies."**

**There's a beat as the group watches Dorothy walk past them. Tolcott is still eating his pilfered lunches.**

**"****Man, girls don't know anything," Chay finally comments.**

**"****Yeah," Al agrees, "she's just an idiot. The Federation has mobile suits. Don't act like such a know-it-all!"**

**That comment gets Dorothy to storm back over to the table. "They do not have mobile suits!" she protests.**

**"****Yeah, well, they didn't have them before but now they do." Chay replies smugly.**

**Dorothy huffs, "You're just making it up!"**

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Yang chanted.

**"****Chay's right!" Al says getting out of his chair. "I should know, as a matter of fact I've seen mobile suits!" Chay and Telcott gasp at this "revelation" (read: blatant lie). Regardless, Al continues, "I'll have you know my dad works for a shipping company and he showed me one at the space port. It was a mobile suit being shipped to Side 7."**

**"****Hmpth. Liar," challenges Dorothy.**

**"****The mobile suit I saw was black and big and looked really tough, so there!" Al smugly counters.**

"And my girlfriend lives in Vacuo, you just haven't met her." Jaune snarked. That got a laugh out of Nora and a chuckle out of Ren. However, Pyrrha looked slightly unhappy with that joke.

**"****Where's your proof?" Dorothy immediately asks.**

**"****Proof?" Al parrots.**

**"****I knew it, you were just fibbing about the whole thing. I'll bet that pilot rank badge is a fake too!" Dorothy follows up.**

**"****Why you…!" Chay angrily says as he stands up and grabs Dorothy.**

**"Hey, what are you doing?!" Dorothy replies in turn. Then, with the tact that only children can have, she then kicks Chay straight in the balls.**

"Ooohhhh shit!" Yang cried. "I like this girl's style!"

Jaune visibly winced at the sight of some family jewels being damaged.

**As Chay slumps to the floor in agony, Al tries to grab Dorothy to retaliate. But in the process, he trips over Chay, and drags Dorothy down with him. Al and Dorothy start to throw elementary school-level insults at each other as they fight on the ground.**

**The shot fades into Chay and Al sitting at the front of the class, while Dorothy looks like she's crying to the teacher.**

**"****Dorothy's such a jerk…" Al grumbles.**

**Chay agrees. "Yeah, they don't come worse than her… Dumbo, she doesn't even know a real badge when she sees one! I'd like to show her up…"**

**"****Get real," Telcott says, "She'll just talk you to death". On that note, Dorothy sticks her tongue out at the boys.**

Yang nudged Weiss with her elbow at that comment. That just earned Yang a heavy eye roll from Weiss.

**A while later, the boys are walking home from school, down the street.**

**"****We need proof to show 'em, like a snapshot or video of the mobile suit." Chay schemes. "Hey Al, didn't you say you were meeting your dad today?"**

**Al stops to reply to Chay, who's standing in front of him. "Uh-huh."**

**Chay briefly smirks, before the scene cuts to Al running home. Running up the walkway, he calls out, "Hi mom!"**

**"****Hi there, honey," Al's mom replies as she's watering plants. As Al runs inside to his room, she calls after him. "Alfred, weren't you going straight over to the space port?" **

**"****I forgot something," Al hurriedly says, packing a video camera in his bag. Running out the door, he shouts out "Bye, mom!"**

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Is she not going to take him there? He's a child!"

"Meh, kids learn how to handle themselves early if you let them. They're kinda like dogs that way. Right, Neo?" said Roman. Neo nodded at her partner's rather questionable advice.

**As Al rides the bus to the space port, he thinks about what Chay told him earlier, "Just get some pictures of that mobile suit from the space port. That'll be our proof. Do it, and I'll give you the rank badge!"**

**Now at the space port, Al makes his way past the crowds of people walking. At the entrance, he goes to a ticket counter to get an entrance pass.**

**"****Alfred Izuruha, age eleven, code number 0039295MC. Okay, here you go. Your father's ship'll be at gate 23. I think it'll be docking in about 10 minutes." the counter clerk says, handing Al his entrance pass.**

**"****Thanks!" Al says, running off. His hat briefly flies off due to low gravity, but he grabs it before scampering off again.**

Ruby idly commented, "I wonder how it is to be all floaty like that. Hey Weiss—"

"No Ruby, we're not using my Gravity Dust for that!" Weiss firmly and swiftly cut off.

**By now, Al is sneaking around the back area of the space port, looking around for evidence of a mobile suit. Hiding behind some crates, he uses his camera to zoom in on a nearby shuttle. The cargo being unloaded is the crate that was onboard the rocket that launched earlier.**

**"****Darn it all…" Al mutters to himself. "There's nothing at all that even looks like a mobile suit…"**

**Al climbs out from his hiding spot, and tries to sneak away. However, he is then caught by a rather large and imposing space port worker.**

**"****You there, what's a little boy doing here?" the worker asks as he walks up to Al.**

**Thinking quickly, Al thinks of an excuse. "I'm looking for a bathroom. Is there one in here?"**

**"****Go straight out of the hallway, at the lifts," the worker says. "The third door. And don't wet yourself."**

**As Al walks back out of that area, he calls back, "Thanks mister!"**

**"****Hey, what's going on up there? Anything wrong?" a different dock worker asks the large one.**

**"****Relax, a kid wandered in. Everything's okay up here." the large worker replies back.**

**Taking that answer, the other worker then says to the others "All right guys, on with the inspection."**

**As the screen fades to black, the crate begins to open. On the inside, the head of a mobile suit is briefly seen. It has two antennae on the front of it, like horns on an ancient battle helmet.**

Ironwood massaged his temples again. "Is there seriously no security in place to stop that from happening…?"

**INTERMISSION CARD**

**XXX**

**As you may have guessed from the ending point of this chapter, I'm going to be handling each episode in halves. Otherwise, I feel that the chapters would run on for too long, and you would probably lose interest in reading something that lengthy. So, the chapter is being cut here. But at least there's the next chapter to look forward to!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: How Many Miles to the Battlefield? (Part 2)

**Do you know how much work actually goes into transcribing episode dialogue and actions into text that's decently readable? It's quite a bit. It's a good thing that I have a real passion for Gundam, otherwise this would be unbearable. So really, it kinda balances out evenly. Anyways, enough of me talking to the void, let's get back to reading!**

**XXX**

**INTERMISSION CARD**

"I wonder why those cards are there?" Jaune observed.

Ren hummed in thought a little. "That's probably where ad breaks would go."

"Oh right. Yeah, that makes sense." agreed Jaune.

**"****What's wrong, son?" Al's dad asks. "You're so quiet today… Is your mother well?"**

**Al is playing with his hat, while he sits at a cafeteria table with his father. "So-so…" he distantly replies.**

**"****So-so?" Al's dad presses.**

**"****Okay, I guess. The same as usual…" says Al.**

**"****I see," Al's dad replies. "So, how're your tests? You had your Achievements on the 3rd, right?"**

**"****So-so," blandly replies Al, still playing with his hat.**

**"****What's the overall average?" his dad asks.**

**"****C-"**

**"****How about Math and science?"**

**"****A- and B+…"**

**"****That's right, you're pretty sharp at science. Oh yes, will you give this to your mother for me?" Al's dad then asks, sliding a letter envelope over to Al. "That's an important letter, son. Make sure you don't lose it."**

Both Winter and Weiss shifted uncomfortably at the awkward family situation on screen. Even if Al's father wasn't as bad as their father, their family situation still left them with a fair bit of emotional scarring towards family issues.

"What's the matter, Specialist?" Ironwood asked, looking at Winter out of the corner of his eye.

"N-nothing. It just reminds me of something…" was Winter's vague reply.

On the other end of the row of audience seating, Roman was reminded of something else as well. "Yeah, those're probably divorce papers or something."

"Personal experience, right?" Yang jabbed at the thief.

"His divorces are as fast as the women he dates!" Neo's speech app said for her.

Roman threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "What, is it the 'Shit on Roman Hour' now or something?"

His only response to that was snickering from Neo, Yang, and Blake.

**Al nods and takes the letter. "Um, Daddy, maybe do me a favor?" he then inquires.**

**The scene transitions to Al getting off the city bus. As he walks back home, he buys a drink. After sipping it down, he crushes the cup in his hand.**

**Later still, he's walking down the sidewalk on his street, towards his house. There are dark clouds overhead, but Al pays them no mind. In fact, his vision is stuck to the ground. He doesn't notice the girl carrying a bunch of boxes until he's already bumped into her. He tumbles down to the ground with a few boxes.**

**"****Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you. Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?" the redheaded woman asks. Oh no, the end of your nose is turning all red. Hm? Al? Al, it is you! It's me, Christina Mackenzie, remember? You know, Chris!"**

**Al stares blankly at Chris.**

Ruby squinted as she looked at Chris. "Huh, she reminds me of Pyrrha."

"Yeah, I can totally see that!" agreed Nora.

Now all eyes in the theater were focused on the gladiator celebrity. On her part, Pyrrha looked taken aback by the sudden attention placed on her.

"D-don't you think it's early to judge?" asked Pyrrha.

"I dunno, I can see it too." Jaune explained. "She's got your hair color and has the same nice voice."

Jaune blushed as the last part of that sentence left his mouth, and Pyrrha blushed at the implications of what her team leader said. Roman couldn't help himself and began to make mocking kissing noises at Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Shut up!" Jaune and Pyrrha both yelled at Roman.

**"****You don't remember me?" Chris says.**

**"****No, I remember! It's Chris! You went to Earth! When did you get back, I haven't seen you in a long time!" exclaims Al, his memory returning to him.**

** "****This afternoon. I was just carrying my stuff back into my room… Huh?" Chris' explanation is cut off by rain starting to sprinkle. "Oh no, everything's getting wet!"**

**Getting to his feet, Al springs to action. "I'll help you!"**

**"****The stuff in the car? Get the bag on the side and the papers too!"**

**"****Okay!" Al replies, before running over to the car. Grabbing the items, he meets up with Chris.**

**"****C'mon!" urges Chris, leading the both of them inside from the rain.**

**Later, inside the house, Chris helps dry Al off with a towel. Soft classical music is playing in the background.**

"Wait, they're on a space station colony. How is it raining?" Yang asked.

"Probably giant sprinklers or something." Jaune answered.

**"****A government job?" Al parrots (for the audience's sake).**

**"****I got sent here on very short notice. It's been really crazy. Mom had to take care of the red tape. Thank God!" Chris explains. Before she can talk more, she's cut off by Al sneezing. "Just a sec." she says, walking over to the other room.**

**On her bed is her suitcase. Opening it up, she rummages through it. She takes out her neatly-folded Federation uniform, and pulls out a shirt for Al to borrow while his shirt dries.**

"Ah, she's a soldier too," Ironwood noticed. "Hopefully she's much better trained than her colleagues."

**"****Mom's not here and I don't know where dad's clothes are. This'll just have to do!" Chris says, walking back over to Al. Handing him the shirt, she then walks towards the kitchen. "Al, do you like milk in your tea?" she asks.**

**"****Yeah, that sounds great! Thanks!" Al answers, now wearing the pink shirt.**

**Chris comes back with the tea set. She pours a small amount of milk into Al's teacup. "Here you go!" she chirps. "You just tell me if it needs more sugar, okay?"**

**The pair picks up their teacups and takes a sip.**

**Al comments, "It's perfect!"**

**Chris simply smiles as she takes another sip of her tea.**

**Later, back at Al's house, he is sitting at the dinner table in his kitchen.**

**"****Al, if you're going to be late, you should always tell me!" Al's mother chides. "I was worried you might have gotten into an accident or something."**

**Al doesn't pay attention to that comment. Instead, he looks at the casserole his mother has placed in front of him. "Okay, down the hatch." he comments, digging into the food with a spoon. **

**"****So, you saw your father today?" Al's mother asks. Al simply nods in response. "I see."**

**At that prompting, Al remembers something. "Oh yeah, he gave me that envelope. He said to give it to you. It's a letter, I guess…"**

**Al's mom takes the letter and looks at the front of it. She looks briefly worried before putting it down and looking out the window. She and Al sit there in silence, with Al still eating his casserole.**

"I'm calling it, divorce papers!" Roman smugly asserted.

"Nobody cares, Roman," was Blake's curt response.

**"****I'm finished, mom." Al announces after a minute or so.**

**"****You hardly ate anything!" his mom protests.**

**"****I ate with Dad at the space port, so that's why I'm not hungry now." Replies Al, getting out of his chair and waking away from the table.**

**"****If you get hungry later on, don't complain about it." his mother says after him.**

**Al has now retreated to his room to play some video games. Turning on the monitor on his wall, he turns down the volume so his mother won't hear him. Once the game starts up, he aims a Super Scope knock-off at the screen, and starts blowing away giant monsters in a level based on a town. Before a knock comes at the door, Al destroys a hospital in the video game by accident.**

"I'm sure that isn't foreshadowing in any way." Blake sarcastically remarked.

"What kind of game is that, anyway?" Ruby asked, completely ignoring what Blake said. "It doesn't use holographic Scroll controls or anything! It's a game for babies!"

"Nah, it's probably just retro." said Jaune. "You just can't beat retro gaming's lasting power."

**"****Al?" Al's mother asks from the other side of his door.**

**"****What?" Al asks back, clearly annoyed. "Just a sec, I'll unlock it." Making sure to turn off the screen, Al gets up from his desk chair and opens the door for his waiting mom.**

**"****Now, let's see. You have Phys-Ed tomorrow, right? Put that in your bag tonight before you forget it, okay?" she says, handing Al a gym shirt.**

**"****Yes, mom." Al tiredly consents.**

**"****And go straight to bed when you finish your homework." Al's mom adds.**

**"****Yes, mom." Al flatly says again.**

**"****And don't 'Yes, mom' me like that!" his mom says, peeved at him. Luckily for Al, she decides to leave and close the door behind her.**

**Al looks visibly depressed, still standing near the door. "Yes, mom," he repeats, still in the same tone of voice. Al tosses his gym shirt to the floor.**

**"****Yes, mom…" Al says again, sounding more sarcastic. He turns the screen back on and resumes his game.**

**"****Yes, mom… Yes, mom… Yes, mom…" he keeps on repeating, shooting all the buildings on the screen. He isn't even aiming for the giant monsters anymore. He keeps on repeating that phrase to himself, even after the game over screen is up. Al has destroyed every building in the game's fake town.**

"You should really value your mom while you can, Al…" Ruby said somberly.

"Kid's got a school shooter in him yet!" Roman cackled. Once again, that got him a collection of bad looks from everyone but Neo.

**The next morning, Al is woken up by his beeping alarm clock. Turning it off, he crawls out from under the bed sheets. Al walks over to the window facing Chris' house and opens it, looking outside. Then, reaching over to his desk, he grabs his camera and starts filming Chris, who is also looking out her window.**

**Chris then notices Al filming her and smiles. She makes a finger gun at him. "Bang! Hey there, Mr. Candid Cameraman! How're you feeling this morning!" she calls out to Al.**

**Al sets down his camera and leans against his windowsill. "Pretty good!" he replies.**

**Soon enough, the pair of Christina and Alfred are walking down the sidewalk, chatting.**

**"****Is school really that boring?" asks Chris.**

**"****It sucks!" Al emphatically exclaims. "My homeroom teacher's the worst! She gives us boring homework, and makes me stand in the corner in front of everybody!"**

"I know, right?!" Nora exclaimed. Ren let out a weathered sigh at her outburst.

**"****So do you have to do that a lot?" goes Chris, playing along.**

**"****Only once in a while. The food stinks, and so does cleaning the toilets! And there's this girl I really can't stand, and now I have to go there for a while other year!" bemoans Al more.**

**"****There's always junior high and high school," offers Chris.**

**"****Yeah, and who knows how that's gonna be like!" Al moans. After walking a bit more with Chris, Al starts running off, not wanting to be late to school. "See ya, Chris!"**

**Making his way towards his school, Al meets up with Chay and Telcott. Now hanging out in front of the school, Al begins to tell his friends how his attempt to get a picture of a mobile suit went.**

**"****I asked my dad, and he let me in no problem. But yesterday they weren't any Fed ships, just a bunch of commercial ships." Al reports.**

**"****Yeah, all you got were shots of this dumb container." Chay says, looking at Al's camera. "Looks like I get to keep my rank badge."**

**Al is handed back his camera as he gloomily sighs "Oh well…"**

**"****You really want a badge that bad?"**

**Al looks up to see Dorothy standing near him, holding several different Federation rank badges. "Corporal, Rear Admiral, Fleet Admiral, Petty Officer, Department Head. The toy store is selling them for one dollar each." Dorothy says holding a string of badges. "You guys really are stupid. I told you it was a bunch of junk!"**

"I get the feeling 'Department Head' isn't an actual military rank," Blake commented.

"As far as I'm aware, it isn't," agreed Winter.

General Ironwood made a mental note to not mention all the people with the Department Head rank currently working on Atlas' secret black projects. Not only would it be spilling national secrets, but even he agreed that it didn't sound like an actual rank.

**"****Shut up!" Chay yells, standing up.**

**"****Why should I?" Dorothy retorts.**

**Before the schoolyard fight can escalate any further, an explosion thunders in the distance. A fight of a different kind is starting. The students all gasp in shock and horror as a large cloud of smoke rises not too far from the school.**

**Al stares alongside his classmates. Then, he notices something over to his side. "Over there! A Federation mobile suit!"**

**His friends and Dorothy look in the direction Al is pointing in. A GM mobile suit is walking past a few buildings, before aiming its rifle at something behind the group.**

**"****It's Zeon!" Dorothy exclaims.**

**At that moment, a Zeon Zaku II comes down from the sky firing its gun at the GM. The shots land, and the GM collapses on top of a building with a loud crushing noise. In the city proper some distance away, fires rage as Zeon and Federation forces face each other in open combat.**

Ironwood shook his head. "It must be a surprise attack. It's shameful how they're fighting in the middle of fleeing civilians."

"If they're in a space colony, I have no idea where they would even flee to. It's a closed ecosphere." Winter added.

"Zeon must be playing dirty…" Blake said with a measure of distaste.

Pyrrha agreed. "It's despicable."

"I hope they get out safe…" Ruby whispered, concerned.

**A Zaku fires at a GM while moving backwards down a street, crushing several cars in its footsteps. The Zaku's partner, a Rick Dom mobile suit, launches a rocket at the GM, but misses. The GM comes out of cover from behind a building, but is then shot by the Zaku. The downed GM falls to the street, crushing people underneath it.**

**Meanwhile, another Zaku II is making its way down the city's canal. Once reaching a corner next a refinery, it comes under fire from another GM unit. Although the fire forces the Zaku to back off, a stray shot hits a fuel tank. Both of the mobile suits get caught in the explosion.**

**By now, Al and his friends have made their way to the top of the school to catch a view of the battle. They arrived in time to see the explosion caused by the gas tanks.**

**"****Way cool!" Chay exclaims.**

**"****This is better than fireworks!" adds Telcott.**

"Run, you idiots!" cried a frustrated Weiss, waving her arm at the screen.

"Let it happen, Schnee. It's just natural selection at work!" Roman said with a grin.

"Ugh, is there anything not awful that comes out of your mouth?" complained Blake.

Roman got an even smugger expression on his face. "Come closer if you want to find out, kitty cat."

"_Fighting will not be tolerated here,_" came the voice out of nowhere. "_Unless you wish to face the consequences._"

Roman shrugged. "Fine, fine. She's not worth it, anyway."

"Go die in a fire, Roman..." Blake hissed.

**Looking off to the side, Chay notices another Zaku II. "Another one's coming down," he notes. Al makes sure to aim his camera at the Zaku and start filming.**

**"****A Zaku! It's hit!" Al exclaims, looking through his viewfinder.**

**"****It's coming towards us!" Telcott yells.**

**Fortunately for the group, the Zaku manages to make a clear landing on its feet, touching the schoolyard right in front of the boys. Then, activating its thrusters, the Zaku propels itself over the school, giving Al a great, (if somewhat too close) look at the Zaku. Naturally, he's amazed at the sight of it all.**

**"****It's going down!" observes Chay.**

**Indeed, the Zaku has disengaged its main thrusters, and now is firing them in short bursts. It starts to make a slow arc towards the ground.**

**"****Hey guys, I think it's heading west!" Telcott notes.**

**"****Looks like it's heading straight for the forest park…" Chay mutters. All of the sudden, Al starts running towards the roof's exit. Chay barely manages to whip his head around in time. "Hey Al, what gives?"**

**"****Are you cutting class?" Telcott asks after him.**

"Idiot. This is an idiot child." Weiss grumbled.

"I mean, I kinda get it," Ruby said. "I wouldn't be able to help myself either if I got to see one of those up close!"

Weiss let out a sigh. "Of course…"

**Al doesn't reply to his friends. Instead, he runs down the stairwell, still clutching his camera in his hands. Once Al gets outside again, he runs after the Zaku, still descending from the height it reached. Al doesn't pay attention to the rubble he runs past, instead focusing his full attention on the damaged Zaku II.**

**Eventually, Al makes it to the forest outside of the town where the Zaku crashed. It doesn't take him long to find the Zaku among the trees. It crashed near the side of the road, down a steep sloping hill.**

**Al makes his way down the hill (tripping and sliding part of the way down it). He finds himself at the foot of the unmoving Zaku. As he stares at one of its feet, he can't help but reach out and touch it. He reels away his hand in pain from the heat. "It's still hot…" Al mentions to himself.**

"I wonder what's powering those things…" Ironwood thought out loud. "Maybe something similar to our Colossus series? Minus the Dust, of course."

"Whatever it is, it probably isn't ablating heat well." Winter observed.

"Bah, I wish I had a notebook right now! I need to write all this down!" Ruby cried loudly in annoyance.

"Well, maybe if you remember this weird dream, you can write it down when you wake up?" Yang then suggested.

Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Ohh, good idea!"

**Smiling, Al looks through the viewfinder of his camera and starts recording. As he walks around the Zaku, he gets in-between the legs to get a clear view of the cockpit area on the Zaku's chest. As he pans across the Zaku, he notices that the cockpit hatch is open.**

**Al keeps on filming as he pans to the Zaku's other leg. Then, he notices somebody standing on the fallen Zaku's knee.**

**It's a young, blonde man wearing a Zeon pilot uniform. And, as Al zooms in on him, he notices that the pilot is pointing his pistol at him.**

**The pilot and Al stare at each other with tension filling the air, until the shot fades to black, leaving the episode on a cliffhanger as the credits start to roll.**

The ceiling lights brightened back up, allowing everyone to see each other better again. Everyone took that as a sign to turn and face one another.

"You know, that was a pretty solid episode," said Jaune. "I mean, sure it's a lot to take in, but I'm interested by it all. Even if we have giant robots in the army, we don't really get to see any of them fight like that."

"I'm not sold," Weiss said, folding her arms across her chest. "That main character kid is a moron. He's completely going against common sense!"

"He's just a kid, he doesn't know any better." Pyrrha offered in Al's defense.

"I can't say I'm buying this yet either," Winter agreed with Weiss. "That child is simply too reckless. It's going to get him killed."

Ruby looked rather concerned at Winter saying that. "B-but we wouldn't be taken here just to see some child death thing, right? Right?"

"Bah, I'm sure he'll be fine!" Nora exclaimed, beaming. "I've done worse, and I'm still fine!"

"I'm afraid all those times taught you the wrong lessons…" Ren said under his breath. Then, speaking up, he added, "In any case, I hope Alfred learns to be more careful. This is only the first episode, so I'm sure there will be some character development along the way."

Blake nodded. "Yeah, that's a fair point."

"I'm down to see some child murder." Neo's scroll said.

Everyone gave the short girl disgusted and disturbed looks. Even Roman gave Neo an eyebrow at that statement. "Yeah, I'm not even touching that one."

"You have no room to talk, Roman!" Ruby snarled.

Roman frowned. "Hey, there's a difference between smacking around a bunch of brats with guns and just killing a kid because someone feels like it. I do a lot of stuff for my job, but I don't get off on it… too much."

"I'd hardly call stealing government property a job." Ironwood sneered at the thief.

"You're right, I guess you can say that it's more like my calling." Roman said in return.

As soon as Roman said that, the voice popped up once more. "_Again, I should remind you all that fighting is not permitted here. Watch where your conversation is going._"

Roman completely brushed off the voice's warnings. "Yeah, whatever. Hey, mysterious voice, how long are we going to be here, anyway? I'd rather not spend the entire night watching a whole season of something."

"_This series is six episodes long._" replied the voice.

"Oh, well that isn't too bad…" Pyrrha said.

"_And if none of you mind, we will be airing the next episode shortly_."

"The sooner we finish watching these, the better." Winter grumbled. "Just keep them rolling back to back."

"_That was the plan regardless._"

At those words, the lights dimmed again, as the screen lit up to start the next episode.

**XXX**

**And there you have it, the first episode of Gundam 0080 is done! I hope you're liking the commentary the characters are doing so far. It's a good thing I'm working with a good-sized audience here. Still, you know how writers are, they're never fully satisfied. So, if you want to say something about this story, just drop a review and I'll be sure to at least read it.**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Reflections in a Brown Eye (Part 1)

**Okay, now we're moving onto the second episode of Gundam 0080, of which you can see the title of in this chapter heading. I hope I'm doing it justice, being a big Gundam fan myself. Hopefully you fellow Gundam fans are feeling positive about it all. But enough talk, let's get going!**

**XXX**

**The upbeat theme song plays over the opening credits, over the still shots of pictures representing innocence and childhood. A toy robot (not a mobile suit), a tricycle, children in boats, and a colorful mural are displayed alongside the credits.**

"Hmmmm hmm hmm, hmm hmm hm hmmmm, hm hmm hmMMm hm hm hmmmm…" hummed along Yang.

"That'll get annoying fast if you keep on doing that." Weiss commented. She looked to Ruby for support.

"HMM hm hm hmmm, hum hm hm hum hmmm…" Ruby hummed alongside Yang. She was rocking in her chair along to the beat.

"Figures…" Weiss muttered.

"It's a rather upbeat song, considering that this show is about war." Blake noticed.

"I like it," smiled Pyrrha. "It has a nice tune to it."

**A brief montage of Al running towards the crashed Zaku II is played, catching viewers up to what happened in the last episode. Once the shot pans up to the armed pilot again, the title card displays the episode's name, "Reflections in a Brown Eye".**

**The young looking pilot and Al stare at each other for a brief moment. The pilot partially relents at seeing that Al's just a kid, and slightly lowers his pistol.**

**Pointing to the Zaku, Al stammers out, "Uh, uh, did you pilot this thing?"**

**The pilot doesn't respond to Al's question. Instead, he hops down from his spot on the crashed Zaku's knee and onto the ground. Standing back up, he aims his pistol at Al again.**

**Al and the pilot meet eyes again. Al decides to press his luck with another question. "Hey, you can fly this thing, right?"**

**The pilot lowers his pistol fully.**

Pyrrha let out a held breath. "Oh, thank goodness."

Neo in turn typed on her Scroll. "Bummer."

Pyrrha shot the small umbrella-wielder a nasty glare.

**Again, the pilot doesn't respond to Al's pestering questions. Instead, he waves his hand for Al to move along, as if nothing happened there at all. Ash he starts to walk away, Al won't stop asking questions.**

**"****Hey, you got yourself shot down, huh?" he presses more. The pilot clenches his fists and groans in frustration.**

**"****Whoa, is that thing a real gun?" Al pesters. "Aw, please man, let me hold it! Will ya?"**

"He's such a moron…" Weiss muttered. Children like that have no business casually asking to hold and look at loaded guns. Over in the corner of her eye, Weiss then saw Ruby lean forward to get a better look at the pistol. She could only let out a long-suffering sigh at the sight.

**The frustrated pilot finally speaks. "No, you can't!"**

**"****Aw, just for a second!" Al wines.**

**"****I said no!" the pilot says firmly.**

**Regardless, Al jogs towards the pilot. However, he stops a short of him, as the pilot is pointing his gun towards him once again. "Huh?" Al grunts.**

**The pilot's features soften up as he lowers the pistol again. Turning around and sitting on a nearby rock, he groans, "Aghh… I didn't come all this way to be hassled by some stupid kid…" Al looks annoyed, having actually listened to what the pilot said this time.**

**As the pilot hunches over the rock, his blond bangs cover up his face slightly. He and Al look at each other silently again.**

"…That's Jaune!" Ruby said, as if something dawned on her.

"Huh?" the others sounded.

"He looks totally like Jaune!" clarified Ruby. Looking closer, the resemblance was almost uncanny. The pilot had the same haircut, skin tone, body type, and kind of whiny voice as Jaune.

"You're right…" Weiss slowly said, as the realization dawned on her.

"Now that's just freaky," observed Yang. "First Pyrrha, now Jaune?"

"Oh come on, I don't sound that whiny!" Jaune complained, accidentally proving Ruby's point.

"I still feel like you're all just seeing things." Pyrrha stated, putting a hand on Jaune's shoulder for moral support.

**"****Not affected by the war…" the pilot mumbled. Looking directly at Al, he then asked, 'Well kid, don't ya have any soldiers on this colony?"**

**"****It's the first time I've ever seen a battle!" Al enthusiastically exclaims. "And also real life mobile suits!"**

**The pilot leans forward and balances his head on his fist. "No GMs?"**

**"****Nuh-uh"**

**The pilot looks away over to the side. His vision drifting downwards, Al notices the gun held limply in the pilot's hand. A cheeky smile crosses Al's face. The pilots notices this out of the corner of his eye.**

**"****Well, you can stand there all day, but I'm not letting you hold my gun!" the pilot says sternly.**

**Al pouts at the pilot. "Meanie! Hmpth!"**

"I understand the fixation children can have on military equipment, but this is…" Ironwood trailed off, grimacing slightly at Al's obsession with weapons.

**Al then starts to walk away, still inspecting the fallen Zaku. Behind him, the pilot stands up from his rock chair.**

**"****Hey!" the pilot calls out to Al. Having gotten Al's attention, the pilot holds out his gun. "Here."**

**"****You're gonna let me hold it? Alright!" Al cheers, throwing a happy hand in the air and twirling.**

"That's irresponsible at best," Winter noted. "But that's just stating the obvious."

"Yeah, no shit." chided Roman.

**Al runs over and marvels over the gun in the pilot's hand. "Whoa…" he says to himself. As he's admiring the pistol, the pilot suddenly snatches the camera from Al's hand and walks away. "Hey!" Al protests.**

**As the pilot holsters the gun, he looks through the viewfinder of the camera. "Now, what were you taping here…" he says under his breath. He plays the footage that Al has saved to the camera's internal storage, including the footage of the Zaku crash landing and the gun being pointed at Al. "Ah, what a handsome fella!" the pilot remarks. "Now, let's see what else ya got in here..."**

**"****Hey, give it back, you!" Al angrily yells at the pilot. "That's mine!"**

**"****You've been busy, haven't you?" remarked the pilot. "Whoa!"**

**The pilot by now has come across the footage of Christina that Al had shot that morning. "She's cute!" says the pilot, looking at Chris' smiling face. "Is that your sister?"**

"See? He's totally you, Jaune!" Nora pointed out.

Jaune cupped his face in his hands. Nobody was going to let this go, it seemed.

"C-can we just keep on watching the show?" Pyrrha asked, embarrassed by the implication.

**Al doesn't bother to answer that question. "Hey, give it back! Give it back!"**

**"****Hold on, kid…" the pilot dismissively says as he keeps on watching the footage.**

**The next thing recorded on the camera is the footage that Al took while inside the space port. It's a clear view of the shuttle, along with the crate that escaped the Antarctic base a while ago.**

**"****A lotta activity for a normal cargo container…" the pilot notes.**

**Suddenly, Al leaps on the pilot's back and drags him down to the ground the pilot yells in shock as Al tries to wrestle with him over the camera.**

"I'm not sure if it's brave or dumb for a kid to fight a guy like that…" Jaune observed.

"Brave!" Ruby replied.

"Moronic…" Weiss groaned.

**"****Hey, cut it out!" the pilot yells, trying to stand up. But Al grabs his leg and forces him to fall over again.**

**Al climbs onto the pilot's chest and grabs his arm. As he tries to pull his camera away from the pilot's hand, Al keeps on yelling at him to give it back. The pilot doesn't let his grip on the camera up. Eventually, Al decides to bite the pilot's hand. As the pilot cries out in pain, Al manages to grab his camera back and climb off of the pilot.**

**"****Ow…" the pilot moans, massaging his bitten hand.**

**As the pilot clutches his injured hand, Al notices the rank badge on the collar of the pilot's space suit.**

**"****Why you…" the pilot begins to say, before noticing Al staring at his badge. Looking around briefly, the pilot then removes the badge from his collar and shows it to Al. He moves it around his head to see if Al really wants it. Al follows the badge like a fish looks at bait on a hook.**

**"****What, you want it?" the pilot asks with a clever look on his face. "What do ya say, I trade you for the camera?"**

**Al considers this. "Hmmm… Do ya mean it?"**

**"****Sure!" the pilot swiftly replies.**

**"****No tricks. Promise?" Al cautiously asks.**

**"****Yeah, promise!"**

**Al nods at the pilot's words in confirmation. He holds out his camera for the pilot to take. "Here!"**

**Taking the camera away from Al, the pilot then hands him the badge, just as he promised.**

**"****Yeah…" Al marvels. "Wow! Cool!"**

**The pilot stands up as Al walks a ways away to gush over the badge in his hands. Meanwhile, the pilot takes out the memory disc from the camera. It looks like an old floppy disc.**

"Isn't this the future? Why do they have floppy discs?" Ruby wondered aloud.

"Maybe all the good science went to making cool robots!" offered Yang. Ruby nodded at the suggestion, as if that explanation made complete sense.

**Looking at the camera, the pilot notices the name "Alfred Izuruha" stenciled onto the side. "Hey, Alfred! Catch!" he calls out, before tossing the camera back over to Al. Al manages to catch it at the last minute, but overdoes it and falls on his rear end.**

**Al looks slightly bewildered at this turn of events. "You don't want it?" he asks. The pilot flashes him the memory disc that he just removed.**

**"****Got what I want." the pilot says with a smile.**

**The both of them hear a loud noise coming from above. Looking up, they search for the source of the noise. It's the engines of a Zaku II, coming to a landing a distance away from the pilot's crashed mobile suit.**

**Turning to Al, the pilot says, "Keep this a secret, okay?"**

**"****Sure!" Al readily agrees.**

"Wow Jaune, you're cutting deals with kids now?" Yang teased.

"He isn't me!" Jaune huffed.

**The pilot turns around and starts jogging towards the now landed Zaku. "See ya, kid!" he says over his shoulder, punctuated with a small wave of his arm.**

**Al follows after the pilot a short ways, before stopping to look at the landed Zaku some more. He stares at it with some wonder as the Zaku lets the downed pilot into its cockpit area, and then swiftly flies off.**

**"****Wow, way cool!" Al comments.**

"Yeah!" Nora cheered.

**The Zaku flies off up above, into the horizon of the colony. Al looks absolutely ecstatic watching the mobile suit take off, and then at the badge in his hand.**

**"****A real badge!" Al cheers, pumping his fist into the air. "Alright, alright!" He skips away merrily, with his new prize in hand.**

**The next shot isn't as merry. Parts of the city are still smoking from the battle between the mobile suits, and the wail of sirens fill the air. People are crying and yelling in panic as emergency services try to reach everybody. Injured and dead people are lying in the street, as others call for help. Glass and smoldering wood litter the streets as Al walks down them.**

"Geez…" Ruby remarks, looking at the destruction on screen.

"I hope we never have a war like that." added Blake. Weiss and Yang nodded in agreement.

"That's what war looks like, unfortunately…" Ironwood lamented.

"I at least hope we all learned our lesson from the Great War," Winter added.

Roman scoffed, "Aren't you military types supposed to be all for war? It's your job."

In turn, both Ironwood and Winter glared at Roman. "My job is to protect lives, not to end them."

"A true soldier knows that we are here to keep peace. That applies above all else!" scolded Winter.

Roman shrugged. "Whatever…"

**Al climbs onto the top of a car to get a better view of the carnage. As officials try to sort out what's happening, Al watches people being carried out of buildings on stretchers, into waiting ambulances.**

**Suddenly, Al feels someone tug at his leg. It's his friends, Chay and Telcott.**

**"****Hey!" Al cries, hoping down from the car.**

**"****Where've you been? We've been looking all over for you." asks Chay.**

**Al replies nervously, "Umm… uh, nowhere… Is the teacher mad?"**

**"****She cancelled all the morning classes," explains Telcott.**

**"****Cool!" Al exclaims, starting to run down the street. Chay and Telcott follow after him.**

"Cool?! You just saw dead people in the street! What's wrong with you?!" Weiss shrieked at the screen.

"He's just a kid, Weiss. Let it go." stepped in Pyrrha.

"That's no excuse. Shouldn't they be learning about this in scho-…" Weiss cut herself off, not finishing that thought in light of the obvious answer.

**Back at the school, the students have pushed together their desks for lunchtime. Students are gossiping about what they've seen, and what they've heard about. And, more distressingly, how cool some of it is.**

Weiss grumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

**Focusing on Al's group, Chay begins to talk.**

**"****Hey, look at her." he whispers, referring to Dorothy. "That face…"**

**Chay begins to talk loudly in her direction. "Hey, the Federation doesn't have any mobile suits, huh? Idiot!"**

**"****Humpth!" Dorothy sneers, turning her head away from the group that got her attention. "Creeps!"**

**Al and the rest of his friends start to laugh at Dorothy's expense. However, about a minute later, a student comes running into the room with some exciting news for them.**

**"****Hey guys? They cancelled today's classes! We're free!" the student exclaims. Everyone cheers in delight at the news.**

**Back at Al's home later, AL excitedly pins his new Zeon pilot badge to his jacket. Putting on his baseball cap, he stands at attention, as if he was a real mobile suit pilot. He smiles at his reflection in the window and salutes.**

**"****Right, sir! Petty Officer Izuruha, moving out!' he barks at the reflection.**

**Dashing over to his desk, Al then starts to pretend like he's piloting a mobile suit. He makes an assortment of "pew pew" noises, and movies his arms like he's controlling the joysticks of a mobile suit.**

"… I still kinda do that…" Ruby meekly admitted to herself. Jaune nodded sagely, as if perfectly understanding Ruby's dork tendencies.

**Fading out of a shot of Al's house, the scene transitions to a bright white moon. The shot then moves in closer to a large facility built into one of the moon's craters. This is Grenada Base, one of the operating bases of Zeon.**

**Inside an office, the footage of the container that the pilot swiped is being reviewed on a large screen. Steiner, Garcia, and Misha observe the images from some couches, while a man looks on from behind a desk.**

**"****There's no doubt about it," Steiner remarks, "That's the thing they launched from the Arctic base. And this video?"**

**The bespectacled man behind the desk replies, "One of our soldiers was fortunate enough to secure it during a battle with the Federal Forces on Side Six when he was shot down." He then shoots Steiner a contemptable look. "It looks like our guys on Luna saved you. It could've been a North Pole failure."**

**Garcia and Misha shoot looks at the man. The glasses-wearing man smirks in return.**

**"****I seem to recall that sending in only one team was your idea, seeing how the base was just a laboratory… With all due respect, sir." Steiner bitterly remarks.**

**"****You want me to say I should've acknowledged and listened to you before, right?" the smirking man responds.**

**"****The reason why we failed was because—" Steiner's comeback is cut off by the smirking man behind the desk.**

**"****The enemy was determined. I'd say that the Feddies were very clever this time." The man then pulls up a thermal image of the artic base on the large screen. "In camouflaging that shuttle, they were being far too careful. Whatever it is, they definitely didn't want us to get to it."**

**Garcia kicks the table between the couches, interrupting the important man behind the desk. Seeing that the others are looking at him, he mumbles, "Sorry."**

**The important-looking man continues where he left off. "In order to improve our situation, no matter what it takes and whatever cost, we either obtain or destroy it immediately."**

**"****So what do you think it is?" Steiner asks. "Newtype use Gundam?"**

"They're throwing out a lotta words." Nora mentions, not understanding what Steiner just said.

"_Newtypes are individuals with extra-sensory abilities. They can have abilities very similar to what you know as Semblances._" explained the voice out of nowhere.

"Interesting. So these people aren't as underpowered as we thought they were..." Ren murmured in thought.

"A mech that can interface with a Semblance…" Ironwood muttered to himself. Now that would be an interesting technology to pursue. He'd have to bring that up to some of his Department Heads later.

**The man clasps his hands together as he replies to Steiner. "For the mission, I have decided to listen to your recommendations. I've had a new soldier transferred to your group, and as you requested, he's an excellent pilot. In fact, he's one of the best. Take very good care of him."**

**The smugness and contempt doesn't escape Steiner, judging by the look on his face.**

**The scene then cuts to the pilot that got shot down earlier walking down the hall, with someone else in tow behind him. The pilot doesn't look to happy at the moment.**

**"****Hey man, sorry. That's really too bad, losing a Zaku on your first time out. They'll get you for this!" the man following the pilot teases.**

**"****Lay off, will ya?" the pilot annoyedly warns.**

"Hey Jaune—" Nora started, before being cut off by Jaune.

"I _know_, Nora…" He seethed, rubbing his face. Being compared to this guy just didn't feel good.

**"****I'll bet they'll send you to Solomon, another wasted sacrifice in the war." the other man continues to tease.**

**The pilot turns on his heel and leans his angry face towards the following soldier. "I said lay off!"**

**"****Don't go in angry, Bernie!" the following soldier says. "Otherwise, you'll make a bad impression!"**

**"****Mind your own business!" Bernie yells back. He walks past a blue mobile suit undergoing repairs, and towards a door down the catwalk.**

**Waiting at the door, Bernie notes the time to himself. "15:30 hours. Alright!"**

**Bernie stands at attention and announces at the door, "Petty Officer Bernard Wiseman, reporting!"**

**Opening the door, Bernie makes himself know to the rest of the Cyclops Team. "Excuse me sir." he politely states.**

**Cyclops Team pays him no attention. Misha is trimming his nails with a combat knife, Steiner is filling out paperwork and chain-smoking, and Garcia is doing the great male pastime known as looking at porno magazines.**

**Bernie stands in the doorway awkwardly as he watches Steiner put out an only partially-smoked cigarette and pull out a fresh one with his teeth.**

"Geez, what a waste!" complained Yang.

"Why should you care? You're not a smoker, right?" Weiss pointed out.

"Oh god…" Blake groaned, hearing Weiss set up a comeback for Yang.

"True… But I'm smokin' hot!" Yang said with a dumb grin. That got universal groans from everyone, especially Weiss.

"Why…" the heiress moaned in auditory agony.

**"****Something wrong, Wiseman?" Steiner asked, not looking up from his paperwork. "Officer, take a seat."**

**"****Yes sir." Bernie stiffly replies, before taking a seat at the table.**

**Looking up, Steiner begins to directly talk to Bernie. "Now then, listen up and I'll explain the mission to you."**

**"****Mission, sir?" Bernie asks.**

**Misha gets Bernie's attention by stabbing his knife into the nearby corkboard. He and Garcia give Bernie judging looks as they join Bernie at the table. Bernie can clearly feel the heat.**

**"****Excuse me sir, what mission?" Bernie asks further.**

**"****Here," Steiner says, tossing a badge at Bernie, "I got a little something for you."**

**Catching it, Bernie looks at the badge in hand. He immediately recognizes the symbol it displays. "Special forces…"**

**"****As of today, you've transferred into our unit." informs Steiner, while Bernie's still fixated on the badge.**

**Steiner begins to introduce the team to Bernie. "To my right is Mikhail, over there is Garcia. And I'm the Captain. You'll follow my orders."**

**"****Well, okay sir." Bernie replies.**

**"****Well, okay sir?" Garcia mockingly parrots.**

**"****You don't sound very sure of yourself," Steiner notes, leaping to a position of judgement. "If you hesitate, you'll wind up dead."**

"True in all combat encounters." Ironwood said.

"Yep, that's one of the basic lessons of being a huntress!" agreed Ruby.

**Before Bernie can get a word in edgewise, Steiner begins to read off the mission plans from his paperwork. "This is how it goes: We'll be holding a major operation in the colony that you attacked. The mission is to enter its port with a vessel disguised as a commercial trading ship. Inside will be a new model mobile suit. The three of us, disguised as civilians, will infiltrate ahead of you and arrange the cargo offer. Your job is to fly though the battle zone and head for the spaceport. Any questions?"**

**Bernie still looked stiff. Watching Misha and Garcia go over their mission plans, Bernie couldn't help but tenuously ask, "Sir… Well, I'll be disguised as a civilian transport. Isn't there a chance I'll get shot by one of our guys?"**

**Misha and Garcia start laughing at Bernie's suggestion.**

**Steiner chimes in with, "Well son, the plan for our team is not to get killed by friendly fire like a bunch of idiots."**

"If only those Federation soldiers had that common sense…" Winter mumbled.

**Garcia and Misha still chuckle at Steiner's response. "Any other questions?"**

**"****Uh, no sir…" Bernie nervously mutters.**

**Standing up, Steiner takes the cigarette out of his mouth. Leaning on the table, he says, "The mission's codename is Operation Rubicon, and it will commence at 23:00 hours. That is all."**

"Ruby… Con…?" Ruby pondered. "It sounds like a convention named after me."

"Who'd want to go to a convention to see just us?" Blake rhetorically asked.

"We're not famous enough for that. Well, except for Weiss and Pyrrha." replied Yang.

"It sounds like a waste of time and lien to me," Weiss huffed. She never really did understand the appeal of pop-culture conventions, even if they did have special guests. "It's like I'm being used as some kind of attraction."

Pyrrha piped up, "I don't know, I like meeting my fans at those! Even if it can get tiring after spending a whole day signing autographs…"

**Bernie looks nervous as the screen fades to black. The intermission cards come up, signaling where a commercial break would be normally.**

**INTERMISSION CARD**

**XXX**

**And there you have it, the first half of another episode down! Once again, I'll ask you if you're liking it all so far. And if you aren't go ahead and watch the actual episode itself. It's leagues better than me just describing it to you anyway.**

**Anyway, this has been The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Reflections in a Brown Eye (Part 2)

**And here we are, about to wrap up the second episode of Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket! Again, I highly recommend to those of you who haven't seen it yet to go check it out. I'd say that it makes a pretty good introduction to the Universal Century of Gundam, if you don't want to start at the original series. Hopefully, I'm inspiring some of you guys to go watch it with this story. Speaking of this story, let's get it on already!**

**XXX**

**INTERMISSION CARD**

**Al is looking downtrodden as he sits in a leather armchair. He's now in his school principal's office, watching as the principal types in something on her computer at her desk.**

**Pulling up Al's grades, the principal turns to face him. "Alfred Izuruha."**

**"…****Yeah?" Al timidly replies.**

**"****I think you know why I've called you here. The scores on your tests are bad. Very disappointing… Algebra: D+, Language: C-, Science: C-… Look at me when I'm talking to you, young man!" scolds the principal. Al picks up his head to look directly at the principal.**

**"****If these scores continue like this, I will either have to consult a counselor or call your mother in here. Now which will it be?" continues the principal.**

**Al couldn't help but groan at the mention of his mother.**

**"****Now which will it be? Your counselor, or your mother?"**

"Now that's a tough choice…" Ruby lamented

"I'd go for the counselor." Jaune said. "My mom would rip my head off for sure."

"Oh, I doubt your mother is that bad." Pyrrha said.

"Well, I wouldn't mind you meeting her. You'd see it then," was Jaune's reply.

"Oooohhhh!" Nora called out to her friends, teasing them.

"This reminds me, Nora," Ren chimed in. "We need to go over your test scores too."

Nora seized up at the thought of it. "Whoa, hey, what's that? It's the show! Let's keep watching it and not talk about that, alright?"

Jaune gave Ren an appreciative look for getting Nora to stop. Ren gave him a small nod and smile in return.

**Al doesn't respond, and the scene transitions back to Al's classroom. As Al walks in with head hung low, his friends notice his return.**

**"****Hey look, Telcott, he's back!" Chay points out.**

**As Telcott and Chay bring Al over to the window they were looking out of, Chay continues to prattle on. "Hey man, you're still alive? What did that crazy old bat say?"**

**Leaning out of the window, Al finally says something. "Aw geez, she says that she's gonna call my mom about how bad my grades are… When my mom finds out, she's gonna kill me and then ground me for the rest of my life…"**

**"****Geez…" Telcott moans.**

**"****Gosh Al, your mom's really tough." observes Chay.**

**"****Oh boy oh boy, you can say that again." bemoans Al.**

**Telcott places a friendly hand on Al's shoulder. "Hey Al, cheer up!"**

**The scene transitions from there to later that night, at Al's home. Even though it's dinnertime, Al's mood has not improved since earlier in the day.**

**"****You look depressed, Al." Al's mother observes over dinner. "Problems at school?"**

**"****No…" deflects Al. "Not really."**

**"****Well alright then." says Al's mom. "Your test scores should come out soon, right?"**

Ruby felt Weiss looking in her direction. She struggled to not look in the heiress' judgmental eyes.

**Even later still, Al is still moaning about the fact that his grades are terrible.**

**As he walks into his room and sets up his collapsible bed, Al muses, "She must be psychic…"**

**Flopping onto his bed, Al stares at the ceiling. He can't help but remember and daydream about the Zaku he saw the other day. It's still very clear in its mind, as it takes off and flies away.**

**Suddenly, Al grins. He's made up his mind. He's going out to see that Zaku that got shot down again.**

**Turning off the lights in his room, Al opens the window and climbs out. Shimmying down the tree next to it, Al makes it to the ground and starts to sneak past the fence that divides his and Chris' houses.**

**"****Hold it!" Chris' voice calls out. Al jumps a little in shock.**

**Al begins to excuse himself, before trailing off once that he sees that it's Chris. "I'm sorry, I…"**

**"****What do you think you're doing out here this late?" Chris asks with a small smile.**

"Seriously!" protested Weiss. "No wonder he's doing badly in school!"

"It's just a show, you should really just relax." Yang said, trying to calm Weiss down. Not that it did too much, considering the contempt still visible on Weiss' face.

**"****Uhhh… I'm meeting my friends for a dare. Please don't tell my mom that you saw me, okay?" lies Al.**

**"****Oh, like a secret mission, huh?" asks Chris.**

**Al nods. "Do ya promise?"**

**Chirs hummed in reply. "Okay, I'll promise you!"**

**Taking this chance, Al begins to run away from the fence.**

**"****Hey Al!" Chris calls to him. "If you bring me along next time, I'll be sure not to tell anyone!"**

**Al stops in his tracks and considers this. "Well, the truth is…" Al begins, before thinking back.**

**In his mind, Al still sees the pilot's face clearly. He remembers the words that he said before running off. "Keep this a secret, okay?"**

**"****The truth is…" Al says, "That girls aren't allowed. They can't come. See ya!" At that, Al begins to run away again, leaving Chris hanging.**

**As she watches Al hop over another fence and run down the sidewalk, Chris says to herself, "Girls aren't allowed, huh?" From the look on her face, she seems to be taking this in stride.**

**Al keeps on running through his neighborhood, past all the dimly buzzing street lights and houses with their lights off. It doesn't take long for him to reach the forested hill where the Zaku crash landed. It's still there, having not been fully hauled away yet.**

**Climbing onto the leg of the Zaku, Al flashes around the flash light that he took with him. "Hey, looks like they took all the weapons away…" he thinks to himself out loud.**

**Continuing onwards, Al reaches the cockpit, its hatch still open. Al looks amazed as he checks out the inside area, seeing the pilot's seat and all the levers and controls. All of the sudden, as Al leans in to get a closer look, he accidentally falls into the seat. The hatch to the cockpit closes after him.**

**"****Damn! What the…!" Al exclaims as he flails around in the darkened cockpit. Fortunately for him, his random thrashing pays off.**

**The cockpit's screens and interior lights turn on, after Al accidentally kicks a control panel. Al looks quite surprised at what he managed to accomplish by sheer accident. "Hey, this thing is still working!" he comments to himself.**

"That's… irresponsible, to say the least." observed Blake.

"No kidding." Weiss agreed.

"But hey, it's the law of dibs." Yang noted. "If you find something in the woods, it's automatically yours."

"There's no such law, and you know it!" Weiss bitterly said.

"I wish there was…" Ruby moaned from her chair. If only she was allowed to take home the cool stuff she found outside. Like that one weird misshapen hornet's nest, or the cool stick that reminded her of Magnhild. Nora would've liked that as a gift for sure.

"What is the _problem_ with security in this world?!" an exasperated Ironwood said.

**Sitting up in the pilot's seat, Al chuckles to himself as he looks around the cockpit. Then, remembering something, he roots around his pockets until he finds the thing he's looking for. Al laughs even more to himself as he sticks on the pilot badge that he got to his shirt. As Al leans back into the chair, he begins to flat out laugh at all the luck that he's having.**

**As the shot pans away from the outside of the mobile suit upwards, Al's laughter fades away into the dark night sky.**

**Meanwhile, back over with Cyclops Team, they are preparing a small commercial vessel in a battleship's hangar. As the crate with the mobile suit parts is being loaded in, Bernie goes over the controls and panels of the ship's cockpit. Suddenly, he hears people talking to the side.**

**"****Hey, careful with his arm now!" admonishes one soldier to another.**

**Turning around, Bernie sees two Zeon soldiers carry a corpse dressed in a space suit into the cockpit. As the soldiers strap the body into the co-pilot's seat, Bernie can't help but ask, "Uh, who's that?"**

**"****It's a body." a soldier replies, before turning to his comrade. "Okay, we're done."**

**"****Hey buddy," Bernie wryly comments to the corpse. "Guess you had some bad luck too, huh?"**

**After placing the dead guy's hand on the controls, Bernie looks back out of the windshield. He can't help but gasp in shock as he notices the soldiers aiming a rifle at the cockpit. As the soldiers shoot the corpse in the head, Bernie gasps at what he sees.**

"Whoa!" Ruby cried in shock. Her fellow Beacon Academy students let out various gasps of surprise as well. They certainly covered up the small giggle Neo let out upon seeing the body's face getting blown in.

"Why'd you do that to a corpse?!" exclaimed Yang.

"Makes things look more authentic." Roman breezily replied.

Ironwood was loathe to admit that Roman Torchwick had a point. "Especially if traveling through a battlefield."

"Barbaric…" Pyrrha muttered under her breath.

**"****What the…?" Bernie asks himself, looking over at the now unidentifiable corpse. His face contorts with a mix of horror and shock as he looks at the hole in the body's space suit helmet.**

**"****Special forces vessel, clear to launch." comes a voice over Bernie's radio.**

**"****Roger." Bernie says, snapping out of his look.**

**The cargo shuttle looks pitifully small compared to the rest of the ships of Zeon's Von Helsing fleet. Against the cruisers and battleships, Bernie's small ship might as well be a fly against a rhinoceros.**

**On the bridge of the fleet's flagship, Zeon operators are beginning to launch their orders.**

**"****Fourteen minutes to operations start," one member of the bridge crew states. "Beginning Minovsky Particle broadcast."**

**"****He's here," Captain Von Helsing, the fleet's namesake, notes. "Special forces out in front."**

**"****Special forces vessel, launch out and proceed towards Side Six!" the bridge crewmember orders.**

**"****Roger." Bernie copies. Firing the thrusters on his cargo ship, Bernie flies past the ships of the Von Helsing fleet.**

**Bernie looks anxious as he looks at the colony on display on his computer screen. He's heading back to the place where he got shot down.**

**"****Five minutes to operation start," reports the bridge crewman.**

**In response, Captain Von Helsing orders, "Launch mobile suit teams now!"**

**"****Launching mobile suit teams!" the bridge crewman announced.**

**Various Zeonic mobile suits detach from their home ships. All sorts of models fly past Bernie's small freighter. Gelgoogs, Zakus, Rick Doms, and the like all zoom past the Special Forces ship.**

**"****There they go…" Bernie mutters to himself as he watches the mobile suits. He then sees a bunch of lights and flashes go off near the space colony, as the fleet's attack has started. "They've started… Aughh!"**

**Bernie yelps as debris from a destroyed mobile suit comes too close for comfort near his ship. The arm of a destroyed Zaku collides with the back of Bernie's ship, making it shake a bit.**

**"****Grrr… let's do it!" Bernie grunts, putting on his game face.**

**The cargo ship begins to fly through the skirmish between Zeon's forces and the Earth Federation's mobile suits. Zakus and GMs are hit and slashed left and right. A Rick Dom and a Gelgoog manage to hold their ground against a few GMs. The Gelgoog in particular manages to get the jump on a few Federation GMs by hiding a solar panel and then ambushing them.**

**Bernie is visibly sweating as he soars through the battle. "C'mon, you pile of junk!"**

**The Zeon forces are beginning to route the Federation mobile suits. GM after GM are destroyed as Bernie tries to fly his way around them.**

**"****Commercial transport Aqua Verde requesting landing clearance. Commercial transport Aqua Verde requesting landing clearance! Aughh!" Bernie yells into his radio, right before a particle beam shot shoots right past his ship. "Aqua Verde here, please come in! I need landing clearance NOW!"**

**The controllers at the colony's space port hear his call. The gate to port number four opens, waiting to receive Bernie's ship. Guidance lights are shined to help guide in the cargo vessel.**

**"****It worked!" Bernie smiles to himself.**

**As Bernie flies into gate number four, the Gelgoog makes a strafing run on the suits near it. A GM covers Bernie's ship, allowing it to get in. However, the GM is quickly destroyed against the Gelgoog's gunfire. Fortunately for Bernie though, he manages to pilot the ship safely into the hangar.**

**Meanwhile, inside the colony, Al wakes up inside the still online mobile suit's cockpit. He had fallen asleep there last night. As he opens his eyes, he notices the explosions of the nearby battle up in the sky.**

**"****Whoa, a battle…" Al comments. "They're fighting right outside the colony…"**

**Al watches the battle a little more, before drifting off back to sleep.**

**Back at the space port, Bernie's ship pulls into the docking area, where it's then locked in place by large safety clamps. As soon as the airlock seals up and air is restored to the port, a customs official and a few port crew members come in.**

**Bernie climbs out of the ship's hatch, and immediately grimaces at the sight of the customs official waving him down to the official's mobile desk platform.**

"Imagine if we had mobile desks!" Ruby gushed. "You wouldn't have to get up all day!"

"And you'd have all your class materials with you…" Weiss mused in agreement.

"Ugh, I think mobile lockers is good enough already..." Jaune groaned. There was no doubt in his mind that you could pull some mean pranks with a mobile desk like that.

**Putting on his best fake smile, Bernie makes his way over to the official and says, "Ah geez, it's a mess out there. They got my buddy! …Sorry, but could you help get him for me?"**

**The dock workers in the background move to go retrieve the corpse from the cockpit. Meanwhile, the customs official asks, "Your passport and landing permit?"**

**"****Boy, I sure wish the Riah government would be on top of this thing, if you know what I mean." Bernie complains. He takes the proper documents out of the binder he's carrying and slides them over to the customs official.**

**As the official checks the documents on his terminal, Bernie continues to talk. "I can't believe that mobile suits are fighting within the perimeter. They're gonna ruin my business, ya know?"**

**"****Name and identification?" coolly asks the official.**

**"****Uh, it's Walter Peterson. I.D. number PG4098376," rattles off Bernie.**

**"****I need your flight manifest, invoice, and receiver's credentials." the official orders. Bernie hands over his binder to the official.**

**Turning around to look at the dock workers carrying the body, Bernie yells at them, "Hey, be careful! He's not a doll, you know!"**

**The official cuts off Bernie's yelling. "And your receiver's credentials?"**

**Bernie looks nervous. "Uhh, I'm sorry sir, that's all the papers I have..."**

**"****Without credentials, we're going to have to inspect your cargo," the official informs Bernie.**

**"****I'm not a—"**

**"****Are you carrying something you wouldn't want us to see?"**

"It's just drugs and hookers, officer!" Yang quipped. Nora, Jaune, and Ruby chuckled at her joke.

"You'd be surprised at how easy it is to smuggle that stuff," Roman said to nobody in particular.

"We get it, you're a criminal!" Yang groaned.

"I'm a man of wealth and taste, blondie!" Roman retorted with a shit-eating grin.

**"****No, that's not it at all!" Bernie says, trying to put on his charm. "Aww c'mon! It's just one form, I have the others."**

**"****We're not doing this because we're bored!" the official snaps. "Now you get your papers ready!" Turning to the microphone on his platform, the official then barks, "This is platform B4-23! Inspection!"**

**Bernie barely manages to hold back an annoyed growl. All of the sudden, he's saved by a voice coming from behind the official.**

**"****Wait, it's on time!" Steiner says, coming in the port with Garcia and Misha. "Start unloading her!"**

**"****Yes sir!" Garcia and Misha reply simultaneously.**

**As the Cyclops Team members float towards the ship, the official yells, "Hey wait! We have to inspect that, don't touch it!"**

**Steiner scratches the back of his head as he floats over to the official's platform. "We're very sorry about this, sir. I'm here as a representative for the receiver." Steiner then digs around in his work jacket for something, and pulls out a piece of paper. "Here you go, the appropriate credentials."**

**The official looks over the paperwork. "Well, the forms seem to be accurate… But it's only applicable when it's completed and sent by the appropriate sender."**

**Steiner takes off his hat and holds it against his chest, trying to look honest and demure. "That's only some construction equipment in there," he explains. "But we have to get it in today, otherwise they'll hit us with late charges. I-if that happens, our company can face bankruptcy!"**

**Getting into the official's face, Steiner "desperately" cries, "And if that happens, I'll never be able to face my client! Please sir, you must understand! We don't have the time!"**

**"****Oh, alright, alright!" the customs official relents.**

**"****You mean it?" Steiner asks, overcome by fake tears. "Oh, thank you so much!"**

**"****We're too busy with this battle and we've got ships waiting. Just have all your paperwork in order from now on!" warns the official.**

"I don't see what's so hard about that," Winter said. Seeing the questioning looks Yang and Nora were giving her, she added. "Paperwork runs the world, you know."

**Bernie looks absolutely amazed that Steiner was able to pull that off. His acting saved them from blowing their cover, after all.**

**Cut back to Al running down the street. As most people would tell you, falling asleep in the place you snuck out to until the morning was a bad idea. So, in that regard, Al sprinted as fast as he could back to his home.**

**"****Oh man, I fell asleep!" Al moaned to himself. "Mom's gonna flip if she finds out about this!"**

Weiss was almost at a loss for words. "You're… just a terrible child. The worst ever."

"Of all time?' Ruby asked.

"Indeed," Weiss nodded.

**Al slid down a stairway's rail and started to wait at the edge of the sidewalk, looking for an opening to cross. A truck carrying some cargo dive past as Al jogged in place. Seeing an opening, Al runs across the street.**

**A loud horn blares as an identical looking truck swerves out of the way and slams on the brakes. Al barely manages to duck out of the way in time. "Wow, that was really close!"**

**As two other similar looking trucks come to a stop behind the one that almost hit Al, the driver leans out of the window and starts yelling.**

**"****You stupid kid, are ya trying to get yourself killed?!" Bernie shouts.**

"Honestly, I'm surprised he isn't dead yet," Weiss groaned.

"Yeah, he doesn't have a sense of self-preservation, does he?" added Blake.

**"****Huh?" Bernie and Al gasp at the same time, recognizing each other immediately. After briefly looking at Al, Bernie ducks his head back into the cab of the truck and starts driving off, the other trucks following closely after him.**

**Al remains on the ground, still surprised that he ran into Bernie again. As he watches the trucks drive away, a sudden flash of inspiration crosses Al's face. He starts to run after the last truck in the convoy, Garcia's. Even with all his sprinting, he's still a distance behind.**

**Fortunately for him, Garcia's truck stops at a stoplight. That allows Al to close the distance, running as fast as he can. Once the light goes green, the truck starts to catch up with the others. But, that one break is all that Al needed to catch up. Reaching out with his arms, Al manages to grab and hold onto the railing of the truck's trailer.**

**After taking a moment to catch his breath, Al says to himself, "They're back! The Zeon soldiers came back to this colony! They're back again!"**

**Al begins to laugh at his luck. Not only is he going to meet real soldiers again, he's going to have a chance to run into the pilot he met in the forest once more. Al's laughter fades away as the shot zooms out, showing the colony. At the sight of the city, the episode fades away into the end credits.**

The lights brightened again at the end of the episode, signifying that it was indeed over.

"Urgh, Al is one of the stupidest children I've ever seen!" Weiss complained.

"Really? I can name a few more," Roman jeered.

"Again, we just need to wait for his character development," observed Ren.

"Forget about him, what about that space fight? It was awesome!" cheered Nora, punching the air in excitement.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool!" agreed Ruby.

"I liked it when they shot the body in the head," voiced Neo's Scroll. Nearly everybody groaned at that, to which Neo responded by blowing everyone a raspberry.

"I'll admit, those special forces guys knew how to smuggle cargo, even if they had to bullshit through customs," Roman then added.

"I'd say overall, we're getting an accurate look at a military operation so far," commented Winter.

Ironwood glowered slightly. "Well, at least one side is competent. Seriously, these Federation people are grossly incompetent. No wonder they're seeming to have a hard time against… Zeon, was it?"

"I hope everyone gets a lot smarter in the next episode, otherwise I feel like I'm going to explode…" Weiss groaned in frustration.

As if on cue, the theater lights began to dim, signaling that the next episode was about to start. Everyone stopped talking and turned back to look at the screen, with some of the audience looking forward to it in anticipation.

**XXX**

**Bam, the second episode is done now! I feel that I did a pretty good job describing that big battle there. That's one of the reasons I wanted to write this, to get a better feel for writing combat. Writing space combat is a whole different beast than writing normal combat between people, I feel. I hope it was good enough for you all!**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: And at the End of the Rainbow? (Part 1)

**And so we begin the third episode of Gundam 0080! That's right, we're about halfway through this story already. It's a good thing this OVA series is kinda short, otherwise I'd have my work really cut out for me transcribing these episodes. Well, even more than I currently do, anyway. But hey, at least it's worth it if you guys keep on liking the story! Now, let's get to it!**

**XXX**

**Once again, the upbeat theme song, "Itsuka Sora ni Todoite (a.k.a. Reach Out to the Sky Someday)" plays over the images representing innocence and childhood. After about a minute and a half of this, the song fades away, beginning the episode.**

**The episode picks up where it left off, with Al catching up to the trucks being driven by Cyclops team and managing to get a hold on the last one in the convoy, Garcia's. A title card flashes on screen, displaying the name of the episode.**

**After the card fades out, the shot cuts to Al climbing along the back of Garcia's truck. Garcia himself almost sees Al in one of his rear-view mirrors, but Al ducks out of sight just in time. After that close call with being caught, Al then inspects the large crate on the back of the truck. He knocks on it with his fist and puts an ear up the crate's metal.**

"Gotta give Al some credit, he's got some good grip to be holding onto a truck like that." Yang noted.

"It's still incredibly reckless though," interjected Weiss. "Especially for someone with no Aura."

**"****I wonder what's in this thing…" he briefly wonders, before getting his attention drawn to a passing road sign. "That's 38th Street there, so…"**

**Before Al could finish his thought, the convoy comes across a t-shaped intersection. Garcia throws the wheel around the corner hard, and Al isn't able to keep his grip onto the truck. Al is flung from the railing of the truck and into some nearby shrubs.**

**Al groans as he climbs out of the bushes. "Aww…" he mutters, seeing that the trucks are now gone. Then, feeling something on his arm, Al notices the road rash that formed on his elbow after being thrown from the back of the truck.**

Weiss nodded to herself. It felt good to be instantly validated like that. "See? I told you so."

**Instead of being hurt or otherwise annoyed by his injury, Al chuckles to himself. With a formulaic grin across his face, Al runs off with a plan in mind.**

"That's the spirit, Al!" Yang commented. She didn't notice Weiss shaking her head in disapproval.

**A short while later, Al arrives at the local police station. Among the prostitutes and the other undesirables one would find in a city's police station, Al tries to tell his story to a nearby police officer.**

**"****It was a trailer with a big yellow-green container. It was headed to Vera Cruz from Blueplot Avenue. You gotta listen to me! They were big ones, like they use in factories! Four of 'em! I think you guys should go look for them, don't you? It'll be easy for you cops to check them out with your computers! Hey, are you listening?!" Al rants.**

**The police officer who Al was telling this to turns away from the secretary he was flirting with. "Yeah, okay kid, I'm listening." he tiredly says.**

"Wow, these cops are just as bad as the ones in Vale City." commented Blake.

Roman grinned. "It's one of the easiest cities to work in for a reason!"

Frowning in Roman's direction, Ironwood said, "If it was up to me, you would be in a max-security cell already."

"And yet I'm not. Ah, jurisdictional boundaries sure are nice!" Roman retorted smugly.

**"****I remember the license plate number!" Al continues. "S63D0018!". Al then furrows his brow at the cop, who went back to hitting on the same secretary. "Hey, c'mon, listen to me!"**

**The cop, more annoyed now, turns back to Al. "Okay kid, drop it. You can quit playing detective now. We're busy around here."**

**Al starts to follow the obviously busy cop, who has started to walk away. "Hey, wait a minute!" Al complains, pulling back the officer. "It was a hit and run, you guys!"**

**Al shows the scrape on his elbow as proof. "I got hit right there!" As the officer looks, Al then turns around to pull down his shorts a bit, revealing a large bruise on his tailbone. "And look, over here too!"**

"I bet you get your pants pulled down in police stations a lot, Roman." taunted Yang.

Roman shrugged. "A few times. I guess those cops can't save their grabby hands for the leather bars."

Nora couldn't help but laugh at Roman's insult. She got an elbow to the side from Ren for that.

**The officer groans before the shot cuts to a few officers driving down the road in a police cruiser. "Yeah, this is car sixteen," one of the cops says into his radio. "We're in route to Vera Cruz, sector 422, uhh, searching for the hit and run suspect."**

**"****Roger." says the officer on the other end of the radio. Clearly, Al's excuse worked flawlessly.**

**Turning to Al, who's in the back seat of the cruiser, the officer with the radio asks, "Now kid, can you remember what the driver looked like?"**

**"****Yes sir, I can remember!" Al nodded.**

**Now having arrived at where the trucks are parked in front of a warehouse, the officer notes the license plate number on one of them. "S63D0018. That's the one, alright. Now kid, are you sure that this is the truck you saw?"**

**Al replies, "Yes sir, that's the one."**

**Inside the warehouse, Misha and Garcia are watching Bernie try to unload the crate. As Bernie reaches out to grab a cargo hook that's a distance away from him, the others start to heckle him.**

**"****Now you got it. Bernie, reach for it!" calls out Misha.**

**Garcia adds, "C'mon, get it!"**

"Always gotta haze the new guy…" Jaune said, with a measure of bitterness in his voice. The scars from Cardin's bullying were still there, even after months had passed.

**Before the heckling can continue, Cyclops Team is distracted by the buzzing of the warehouse's door pager. Steiner looks on a security camera to see the officer that Al is with ringing on the buzzer.**

**"****Can I help you?" Steiner asks over the external intercom.**

**"****This is the police. We need to ask you a few questions." the officer responds.**

**"****I see," says Steiner. Turning to Misha, he orders, "Misha, open the gate. Everyone else, hold the work."**

**Cyclops Team is put on edge as Steiner decides to open the gate himself. Garcia pulls out a knife and keeps it at the ready below his waist, while Misha readies a pistol behind his back. Bernie is looking rather nervous about this development.**

"Damn it, Al…" Weiss groaned, pinching her nose. To her, Alfred was topping the charts of the stupidest kid she'd ever seen, even over her (recanted) opinions of when she first met Ruby.

**As the gate opens, Bernie is rather shocked to see that Al is standing next to the police officer that got allowed in.**

**"****Tell me men, who's in charge here?" the officer immediately asks.**

**"****That would be me, sir." Steiner replies, walking up to the cop. "Well officer, what seems to be the problem?"**

**Pointing his thumb over to the trucks, the officer explains, "Yeah, that truck rig over there? It doesn't happen to be yours, does it? Well?"**

**Steiner glances over to the truck and the other cop standing nearby. "We're just renting it, sir."**

**The cop then walks past Steiner. "Alright, just a few more questions…"**

**Misha shoots a look over at Steiner, non-verbally asking if he should kill the police officer already. Steiner shakes his head 'no'.**

"Don't do it…" Pyrrha whispered under her breath.

**"****Kid, come over here!" the police offer calls, and Al runs into the warehouse. "Look around. The man who hit you, do ya see him in here?"**

**"****What?" Steiner protests. "Hit him? Officer, there must be some kind of mistake!"**

**"****Hey, I didn't ask you!" the officer snaps at Steiner. Turning to Al, the officer then asks, "Well kid, do ya recognize him?"**

**"****Ummm…" Al thinks. "That guy!" Al levels his pointer finger at Garcia. "Him! He's the one who hit me!"**

**Garcia mutters something under his breath as the officer walks over to him.**

**"****Where were you this morning at six o'clock?" inquires the officer.**

**"****I was in a trailer headed here from the spaceport." Garcia replies, glaring at the cop.**

**"****Oh yeah?" presses the officer. "Which route did you take?"**

**"****Blueplot Avenue to 38th street," says Garcia. Behind him, Al flashes a smile at a rather confused and concerned Bernie.**

**"****I see. That's exactly what the kid said." the officer leers.**

**"****Aw come one! He's completely lying to you! Can't you see that?" Garcia lashes back, still hiding the knife behind his back.**

"I wouldn't even bother with this song and dance," said Roman. "I'd just cap them right then and there."

By now, the awful looks that nearly everyone gave Roman whenever he said something were starting to become routine.

**"****You guys are acting awfully suspicious…" the officer observes, "Like you're hiding something. I'd like to know what's inside those containers. I say we have a look."**

**The officer then starts to walk over to the truck. "Foreman! Where's the open switch on this thing? I don't want to ask you again now!"**

**"****Right. I will get that for you." Misha offers, walking over to the cop.**

**Al lets out a small gasp at what he sees. Behind Misha's back, he sees the pistol being readied to kill the police officer. As Misha starts making excuses about needing a key-card to open the trailer, Al realizes that he needs to do something, to avoid getting everyone killed.**

**Amping up to yell, Al shouts, "Big brother!" Getting everyone's attention that way, he then starts crying and clinging to Bernie.**

**Walking past Misha, the cop asks, "Hey kid, what is it now?"**

**"****B-big brother, don't you remember me?" Al cries into a confused Bernie's chest.**

"Huh?" Weiss grunted.

"What's he doing?" Jaune couldn't help but ask.

**Picking up on Al's diversion, Bernie says, "Al… Al it's you! You've gotten so big!"**

**Crying a little bit more onto Bernie, Al turns around and says, "I'm sorry, officer! I made up the story about the hit and run! I haven't seen my brother since my parents split up four years ago and they left me!" Al throws in a few sniffles and wipes away his fake tears for good measure. "And when I saw him in the trailer, I lied so you could go look for him!"**

Ren raised his eyebrows. "Unexpected, coming from him. Al's a fast thinker."

"And yet he caused this situation in the first place…" Winter observed.

Weiss nodded, following her sister's lead. "So really, he's only stupid when he wants to be. Figures."

**The cop continues to hear Al out as he rambles on. "I got the bruises because I fell down. They don't have anything to do with the hit and run. I'm sorry, I really feel bad…"**

**"****Is this true?" the police officer sternly asks.**

**"****Yes sir!" Bernie quickly replies. "Al, shame on you! You know it's wrong to lie to the police like that!"**

**"****I'm sorry, big brother…" Al sniffles.**

**The scene transitions from there to later, when the police officers had left. Cyclops Team and Al are gathered in the warehouse's office area.**

"That was disappointing." Neo's Scroll said for her. She looked legitimately disappointed at not seeing police officers getting murdered.

**"****Damn you, kid! What's the matter with you, going to the cops? Are you nuts?!" scolds Bernie.**

"Exactly!" Weiss cried.

**Al snottily replies, "I wanted to know where you were!"**

**"****Oh great," Bernie bitterly quips. "And now that you do?"**

**"****I want to be on your team!" demands Al.**

**"****Our team?! We're not playing silly games here, you know!"**

**"****I'm not playing!"**

**Misha, Garcia, and Steiner all play witness to the argument going on between Bernie and Al.**

**"****Captain," Garcia asks, "What do we do with this kid?"**

**Having had enough of this, Steiner gets up from his seat and walks over to Al. "Your name is Alfred, right?"**

**"****You're the captain, right? You better put me on your team!" Al says, as if he has the power to declare such things. "Let me be a Zeon soldier. I've always wanted to be a soldier!"**

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Al…" said Ruby.

"Look who's talking," Yang teased. Ruby really was lucky to be going to Beacon at this age.

"Yeah, but we're not fighting giant robots." added Ruby.

"Are you saying you don't want to be around cool giant robots?" slyly said Yang.

Ruby conceded that point. "…Okay, you got me there."

**Steiner kneels down to look Al in the face. "Well, alright, but with a couple of conditions."**

**"****Conditions?" Al parrots back.**

**Steiner nods. "Uh-huh. First of all, it's top secret. You can't tell anybody we're here."**

**Al beams at this. "I promise! I promise I won't tell anyone!" he squees.**

**"****And one more thing," Steiner adds. "I need to know where you were when you shot that video."**

**Later, over a schematic of the space port, Al points out where he took the footage of the special Earth Federation cargo crate.**

**"****I was hiding right over here… The container was over here at gate number eight. I guess they probably took it over to block number twelve." explains Al.**

**"****Well, what gives you that idea?" Steiner poses.**

**"****Well, I know that they use a seal on gate number eight, and it's the only one that goes down to block number twelve." Al replies, as if it's the obvious answer.**

**Steiner pats Al on the head. "Heh, you're one smart kid, Alfred."**

"Debatable." stated Winter flatly.

Ironwood murmured in thought. "Still, he's a valuable intelligence asset for them. In enemy territory, anyone giving out information like that is important enough to take notice of."

**"****So captain, what was it carrying anyway?" asks Al.**

**"****Well son, I'd say that our mission is to find that out." Steiner politely answers.**

**Al gets a gleam in his eyes. "Do I get to help out, captain?"**

**"****No Al, you've done more than enough for one day." says Steiner.**

**Just then, Misha walks back into the room, carrying something in his closed and. When Steiner turns to face him, the pair share a sly smile. Misha hands over a Cyclops Team badge, and Steiner turns back to face Al.**

**"****Thanks for your help, son," thanks Steiner. Handing the badge to Al, he then says, "I'd like for you to have this," Al gasps in elation. "It's our unit insignia. Don't lose it now, son."**

**As Steiner pins the badge to Al's shirt, he explains, "If anyone asks where you got it, just say that you found it, okay?"**

**Al chuckles, then flashes a salute. "Aye-aye! Whatever you say, captain!"**

**"****Now you be a good boy and go with Bernie. He'll drive you home." Steiner orders.**

**Some time has passed, and Bernie is now dressed in casual clothes, a leather jacket over a white shirt and some jeans.**

**Starting up the small red car, Bernie snarks at the smiling Al, "What's the matter? You've never been in a car before?"**

**"****Not with a pilot for the driver!" Al smiles. Bernie groans and frowns at that.**

**"****Boy, you're something…" the pilot mumbles under his breath.**

**The rest of Cyclops Team watches from the office window as Al and Bernie drive out of the warehouse complex.**

**"****I'll let Bernie keep a close eye on him, just to be safe," Steiner comments.**

**Garcia gestures with his knife. "I still say we should have killed him. Keep the kid's mouth shut for good. There's no telling when that kid'll spill the beans and screw everything up."**

**"****You want a kidnapping investigation?" Steiner rhetorically asks.**

"…Okay, now it's a bad idea," Yang sighed.

"Now you see!" Weiss exclaimed. "Why is this even happening? Shouldn't someone have stopped this somehow?"

"Plot convenience." Blake flatly replied.

"Well, at least they're being smart about it." Ironwood then said. "Keep the kid at a reasonable distance, while still keeping the framework of the plan in place. He has no business getting too involved in their operation anyway."

"And it does prevent him from getting killed by them." added Winter.

**"****Well boss, at least there is one thing," Misha notes. "It'll keep Bernie out of the way."**

**Closing the window blinds, Steiner mutters, "You're right about that."**

**As Bernie and Al drive down the colonies' city streets, the two chat about what could happen in battle.**

**"****Getting killed in space is the worst thing," Bernie chats. "There's no gravity, you know? And the blood just forms these huge wobbly globs that float all around the cockpit. It must be worse than Hell!"**

Teams RWBY and JNPR collectively shivered at that description of dying in space. It sounded too nightmarish to them.

**"****Woah!" Al exclaims.**

**Bernie continues, "I've seen more of my buddies die out there and been in more battles than you can even imagine". As the car stops at a light, Bernie then says, "I shouldn't even be associating with a kid like you…."**

**"****Hey Bernie?" inquires Al. "Have you, you know, killed anybody before?"**

**"****Wha?" Bernie stutters, before coming up with an answer. "I never wanted to kill them. But if I don't get them first, they'll get me. You have to get your target, right?"**

**"****Geez, it sounds rough…" Al drawls out.**

Ironwood closed his eyes and sighed. "It is. It never gets easier, even if you think it does."

Sagely nodding, Winter then said, "That's why we fight, to end conflict." She did her best to ignore both Neo and Roman audibly scoffing at her comment.

**"****You bet, kid! I was one kill away from becoming an ace when they shot me down," Bernie lies.**

**"****Was the other pilot really good?" Al presses, believing Bernie's words.**

**"****Nah, I was careless. They told us that this was a neutral colony. A GM just popped out at me, and well… What could I do?" Bernie explains. The light that the car is stopped at changes to green.**

**"****Yeah…" Al agrees as the car drives down the street. Suddenly, he says, "Down here, turn right! Turn right!"**

**The car skids and careens around the nearby corner. Apparently, being a mobile suit pilot doesn't translate well to driving cars. This seemingly applies to all of Cyclops Team.**

**Now at Al's house, Al manages to sneak in quietly through the front door. As he sees that nobody else is around, he begins to quickly and quietly try to climb up the stairs to his room. Just before he makes it to the top, he's caught by his mother, who pokes her head into the hallway.**

**"****Al, I don't care if you had the day off today. You should tell me when you go out." she scolds.**

**"****Yes mom." Al replies, in his most snotty tone yet.**

**"****I got a letter from your school today," Al's mother continues, "It's about your grades. They want to have a talk with me". Al can't help but shove his palm in his face at that news. "You did really badly on your test, didn't you?"**

Nora could feel Ren's eyes bare down upon her. For some reason, she started to sweat rather uncomfortably under his gaze. Ren could get rather serious about Nora keeping up on her grades. It was one of the few things that was scary about him.

**Al decides to dampen down the bad news. "So-so."**

**As Al keeps on arguing with his mother, Bernie sits inside his car parked on the street outside. He smiles as he listens to the conversation, due to the hidden microphone Misha had hidden in the badge for safety.**

**After the argument is over, Al sits in his room, smiling at the badge still on his shirt. Reaching into his desk, he pulls out the badge he had gotten from Bernie the other day and puts it on his collar. He chuckles as he fastens it on. However, he's interrupted by his mom yelling up to his room. "Alfred?" Al's mother calls.**

**"****What?" Al shouts back.**

**"****I'm going to the Woman's Association meeting now, so be sure to do all your homework, okay?" his mother orders.**

**"****Yes mom!" Al replies. He bitterly takes off his badge, his fun ruined.**

**Outside, Bernie is sleeping in his car across the street from Al's home. He's woken up by the passing lights of Al's mother's car. Seeing his chance to keep a closer eye on Al, Bernie decides to make his way over to the house.**

**"****X equals… and Y equals… Hmmm…" Al thinks out loud as he does his math homework.**

**Outside, a sudden thump is heard, followed by a pained groan. Al is pulled away from his homework by the sound of Christina yelling to her parents.**

**"****Dad! Mom! Call the cops! A prowler! I just caught a prowler out here!" Chris cries out.**

"Trying to look in a kid's window at night? Not a good look there, Bernie." Yang joked.

"Trying to look into _anyone's_ window at night isn't a good look." Blake further clarified. She knew that one from personal experience. The White Fang didn't exactly enhance her image back in the day.

**Curious, Al walks over to his window and opens it. Looking outside, Al sees Chris angrily holding a baseball bat, and Bernie lying prone on the ground, collapsed on his back.**

**"****Bernie?" Al asks to himself.**

**Chris hears Al's muttering and looks up at him. "Al! I couldn't believe it! He was trying to break into your house!"**

**"****Chris, he's no prowler!" lies Al. "He's my brother!"**

**"****He's your brother?" Chris asks as Al runs down to meet them. "Well, what do you know…" Seeing Bernie start to breathe again after being knocked out, Chris drops the bat and says to her parents, "Mom! Forget the phone call!"**

**Kneeling down, Chris checks Bernie's eyes for any signs of life. Seeing his eye move, she sighs, "Thank goodness, he's alive". Breathing a sigh of relief, Christina relaxes as Al runs up to her side.**

**The image of Al and Chris looking over Bernie's unconscious form pulls out and takes the scene into the middle intermission card.**

"Girl meets boy, boy meets baseball bat. Reminds me of when my sisters started dating." chuckled Jaune.

"I'd be okay with that," Nora said. "You only really get to understand people when you're fighting, you know?"

Only Yang and Ruby nodded at Nora's sage wisdom. Everyone else gave the sisters an odd look.

**INTERMISSION CARD**

**XXX**

**How're you guys feeling about Alfred, by the way? Like yeah, I think he's annoying and situationally dumb for sure. But hey, it pays off, trust me. It all pays off at the end of the series. Those of you who have watched Gundam 0080 know exactly how this all ends up.**

**Anyways, that's it for this half of the episode. This has been The Draigg, and I'm signing off here for now!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: And at the End of the Rainbow? (Part 2)

**And now, as of this chapter, we have three episodes down! Not too shabby of work, if I were to say so myself. This is the point of the series where shit begins to ramp up and things start to spiral to their inevitable conclusion. I'm sure you'll see what I mean once you finish reading this chapter. So, let's cut out any more delay, and let's get it on!**

**XXX**

**INTERMISSION CARD**

**By now, the fully awake Bernie has joined Christina and her parents inside Christina's home, with Al along in tow. The group is sitting in the living room and having some tea and coffee, while Bernie holds a cold compress on the back of his head where he got hit.**

**"****We're very sorry about what happened, but we're happy to see that you're alright." Chris' mom apologizes. "May I pour you some coffee?"**

**"****Uh-huh?" Bernie groans as he nods.**

**Chris' mother pours coffee into a few cups and sets them on the table in from of Al and Chris. "So, you're Al's brother. I had no idea," she comments, handing a coffee mug to Bernie. "Here you go."**

**"****Well, we have different mothers." Bernie (lies) explains. "Dad was really young when I was born, and a lot of people objected to the marriage, so they separated."**

"Different mothers?" Yang observed. "I guess that makes me Bernie."

"Awww, I don't wanna be Al…" Ruby groaned, understanding the weirdly accurate comparison between Yang and her versus Bernie's lie.

**"****Does Michiko know about you?" Chris' mother asks.**

**"****It's a secret!" Al replies in Bernie's stead. "That's why he was sneaking over!"**

**"****I guess Chris must've mistook him for some kind of Peeping Tom." Chris' dad lightheartedly remarks. That makes Chris hitch while drinking her coffee briefly. "Well, I hope you can forgive her. She's always jumping to conclusions."**

**Bernie smiles. "Of course."**

**"****I'm really sorry, I thought you were…" trails off Chris.**

**"****Don't worry," assuages Bernie, "No harm done."**

**"****She's a real hothead, you know." Chris' dad quips. "That's probably why she joined the Federal Forces."**

**Bernie and Al look a little shocked at this revelation, while Chris looks uncomfortable that her secret got out.**

**"****What? You're a soldier Chris?" Al asks, surprised.**

**"****I just do data collection. Well, it's not like I fight with a gun or anything." is Chris' explanation.**

**"****Bernie's a real soldier!" Al exclaims, making Bernie choke into his coffee cup.**

"Damn it, Al…" Weiss groans. Her dislike of him wouldn't stop growing.

"Again, he is a _child_." Pyrrha said in Al's defense.

**"****Huh?" Chris' family collectively grunts as they look to Bernie for an answer.**

**"****Well, uh, I was discharged." Bernie comes up with. "They have me in the reserves right now."**

**"****So, that's why you came back to the colony." Chris' mother nods. "And you also work here?"**

**"****I work at a factory now, for all the mechanical repairs." Bernie half-lies, glancing over at Al.**

"Well, I suppose that technically isn't a lie…" pondered Ren.

**Finishing up his coffee, Bernie stands up from the couch and says, "Well, thanks for everything."**

**"****You really should take it easy for now." Chris' mother warns.**

**"****I will. I have to meet someone." Bernie replies.**

**Getting up, Chris concernedly asks, "Are you sure? Will your head be alright?"**

**"****Oh yeah, thanks. I'm fine." says Bernie. Handing the cold compress to Chris, he then adds, "Well, here you go."**

**Bernie then faces Al and orders, "C'mon Al, let's go."**

**Out on Christina's front porch, Bernie and Al say their goodbyes for the night.**

**"****Goodnight, Chris!" Al says.**

**"****Goodnight, you two." says Chris back.**

"And now those two are hitting it off? This is closer to reality than I thought!" Yang noticed.

"The resemblances and actions are flat out uncanny." Weiss agreed.

Jaune groaned loudly as he buried his face in his hands, and Pyrrha could only stare and sigh at the ceiling. It was really getting too close for comfort for the both of them at this point.

**As Bernie and Al walk off of the porch and towards Al's house, Bernie steals a quick glance back at Chris. "You can't judge people on how they look, right?" Bernie whispers to Al, putting a hand on his shoulder.**

**"****I don't think she looks bad at all." Al honestly replies.**

**Smiling, Bernie suddenly picks up and set him up to be carried on his shoulders. "Ow…" Bernie hisses as he settles Al into place.**

**"****Did that hurt?" Al asks worriedly.**

**"…****Just kidding!" Bernie jokes, right before starting to run. "Launch!"**

**Al laughs as Bernie gives him a ride, making machine noises as he goes along. All the while, Chris watches from her front door and smiles at them.**

Pyrrha smiled. "D'awww, that's sweet!"

"Even if he isn't actually Al's brother, he's still doing a fine job acting like it." said Ren.

"Sometimes, blood relation doesn't determine family." Weiss said that with a degree of absolute certainty. Off to the side, Winter couldn't help but nod in agreement with her sister. They certainly felt closer to the people they fought alongside than their actual father or brother, for sure.

**The next morning, Al runs out of his house, wanting to get over to the warehouse Cyclops Team is using as a base as quickly as possible.**

**"****Bye, mom!" he yells over his shoulder.**

**The sun shines bright through the trees that line the sidewalk as Al runs down the road. He's wearing on his shirt the badge that Steiner had given to him yesterday.**

**"****Hey, Al!" Al hears someone yell at him a distance away. Across the street, he sees Chay and Telcott dressed in army vests and goggles. The pair is also carrying toy rifles with them.**

**"****We were heading towards your house!" Chay yells.**

**Hosting up his fake gun, Telcott adds, "Let's go to the park and play war!"**

"If only these children knew the true cost of it…" uttered Ironwood. "The fantasy is always different than the reality."

"Yeah, and how many people have you sold on that fantasy, eh?" Roman sniped.

Ironwood didn't have a satisfactory answer for that one. As loathe as he was to admit it, the Atlas military did happen to use the perks and benefits that come with joining the army as a point to get normal citizens to enlist. It wasn't a tactic that he himself was proud of, but Atlas needed bodies to defend the kingdom. And a nation built on the corpses of those who served was better than no nation at all.

**Al instead takes off running again. He yells over his shoulder, "Maybe next time, I'm busy today!" As Al leaves his friends behind him, Chay and Telcott looks slightly bewildered at Al's behavior.**

**A short while later, Al reaches the Cyclops Team's warehouse hideout. Inside, Al can't help but gawk in wonder at the blue mobile suit being constructed, the MS-18E Kampfer. At the moment, the entire team is working on its assembly, with Bernie and Garcia standing around the cockpit.**

Both Ruby and Nora couldn't help but lean forward in their chairs to marvel at the finely-drawn internal mechanics of the Kampfer on display. Even Yang couldn't help but feel a little excited looking at it. Too bad the shot didn't last for too long, since they leaned back into their chairs once it was over, slightly disappointed.

**"****Keep it going, keep it going, hold it!" Bernie calls out, signaling for the crane that's moving the pilot's seat to stop.**

**"****Secure those screens!" Steiner orders off-screen.**

**"****Which ones do we start with?" Garcia asks in return.**

**"****The main one!" Steiner replies.**

**"****You got it." Garcia notes as he gets back to work.**

**At the foot of the mobile suit (literally), Al continues to stare at the Zeon commandoes building the fearsome weapon of war.**

**"****Oh, so it was a mobile suit they had inside of there." Al thinks out loud to himself. He begins to pace around the side of the Kampfer, until reaching a good spot to observe the team at work.**

**"****Okay Bernie, hurry up and lock it down!" Steiner calls from his crane console.**

**"****Right, sir!" Bernie dutifully says.**

**As Bernie struggles to push the pilot's seat into place, Al walks up to the console where Steiner is standing by.**

**"****Are you gonna fight the Feds with this thing, captain?" Al asks.**

**"****No, no. It's just for when we get off this colony, is all." explains Steiner.**

**"****What?!" Al exclaims. "You're not gonna fight? You're just gonna run away?"**

**Steiner pulls a cigarette out of its box with his teeth. "Well, if the Feds attack, then we'll have to consider it."**

"I hope it doesn't come to that," said Winter. "The colony was in shambles the last time there was an attack."

"Survival is their responsibility. It doesn't matter if it's war or Grimm attacking. If there's something coming for me, you can bet I'd either fight or haul ass out of there." Roman mused to the open air.

"Just like you ran the all the times we kicked your ass?" remarked Yang.

"You can't say that I didn't fight you. Nor Neo here, right?" Roman then said, looking to his partner.

Neo nodded and typed into her scroll. "And if I remember, I kicked _your_ ass, blondie."

Yang's eyes flared red as she got ready to leap out of her chair. "Wanna say that to my face, midget?!"

"_Once again, no fighting in the theater._" the voice from nowhere warned.

Yang settled for flipping Neo the bird instead as she settled back into her seat. Neo in turn just turned up her nose at Yang and gave her the smuggest look imaginable.

**"****Well then, you should let Bernie be the pilot, shouldn't you?" Al asks, not know that Bernie's previous tales were all lies. "All he needs is one more kill to become an ace!"**

**Bernie looks up from his work to glare at Al, before getting back to installing parts on the pilot's chair.**

**"****I'm sorry, son. I've already selected Misha to be the pilot." Steiner informs Al.**

**"****I don't get it. What's wrong with Bernie?" Al wonders. Behind him, Misha joins Bernie and Garcia on the Kampfer, while Garcia laughs to himself.**

**"****Misha has more combat experience." Steiner bluntly replies. Al frowns in confusion at this.**

**"****Hey, Bernie." Misha pipes up, "So sorry. Only one kill and you're an ace, huh?"**

**"****You only have four under your belt? I figured you'd at least have twenty by now!" mocks Garcia.**

**As Misha and Garcia laugh at Bernie's expense, Bernie himself grits his teeth and grimaces in anger.**

"I get why he lied about it to Al earlier, but man it didn't help." noticed Jaune.

"Yeah, I bet it's familiar territory for ya too." Nora prodded.

Crossing his arms, Jaune huffed, "Look, will you stop comparing me to him already? Seriously, it's getting old!"

"Nora, come on…" Ren chided.

"Look, I call it like I see it," Nora shrugged. "And hey, at least Bernie isn't too bad of a guy, right?"

"Well yeah… but c'mon, I'm honestly nothing like him!" Jaune complained.

Pyrrha gave Jaune a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I like you just the way you are, Jaune."

"See? Pyrrha gets me." Jaune gestured.

"She sure does…" Nora said with a wry smile.

**Meanwhile, elsewhere, a pilot is running a battle simulation in a mobile suit. While a Gelgoog and a few Zaku II's get taken out by the pilot, the virtual mobile suit is soon destroyed by a Rick Dom with a bazooka out of nowhere.**

**"****Chris, uh, let's take a break here." a terminal operator says to the pilot. "After that, we'll try a new program. That okay with you?"**

**"****Right." Christina replies over the comm. set.**

**Off to the side, a different combat operator asks a nearby analyst, "How's the reaction speed data reading?"**

**"****Well, it's only reading thirty percent above average." the analyst reports.**

**"****I see." the combat operator remarks. "We'll have a long way before eighty percent."**

**Outside the control room and in the hangar, Christina steps out of the mobile suit that she was running the combat simulation in.**

**A mechanic standing outside the cockpit greets her with, "So, what's your impression of the Alex? How'd you like the three-hundred sixty degree monitor and the magnetic coating?"**

**Chris takes off her pilot suit helmet. "It's so fast, I'm not sure." she sighs.**

**"****Can anyone really handle this in combat?" Chris then asks.**

**"****I guess it depends on the pilot, I suppose." the mechanic says.**

**"****Oh, so you think I'm not good enough for the Alex, huh?!" Chris snaps at the mechanic.**

**"****Simmer down!" the mechanic says. "This thing's specially built for Newtypes. You're good, I'll give you that. But I think this thing's a little out of your class. You'd have to be a freak to control this thing."**

"Well, at least you can say that Chris isn't like Pyrrha," said Jaune. "She isn't really a hothead."

"But doesn't her name mean 'fire' or something, though?" asked Ruby.

"Well… yeah, but you know what I mean…" Jaune sighed.

"In any case, we're just fine the way we are." summed up Pyrrha.

**As the mechanic turns around to leave, he notes, "I hear they'll be sending it to some pilot on the White Base."**

**Christina slightly pouts, before looking up at the head of the mobile suit being assembled. Although it's missing the distinctive v-fin and parts of the sides, it's clear that the head belongs to a Gundam-type mobile suit.**

**Back over to Cyclops Team and Al, the Kampfer is being given its initial testing. A montage plays of the testing, starting with Misha rotating the limbs and clenching the hands from the cockpit. Naturally, his booze flask is hanging inside the cockpit with him. The arms are proven to be operational, and the hands are calibrated for dexterity.**

**After getting the okay from Garcia, armor plating is added to previously uncovered areas, before the thruster motion test begins. On the back and on the feet, the mobility thrusters move around seamlessly and smoothly.**

"Ooooh, so cool!" squeed Ruby.

Nora punched the air in excitement. "Yeah!"

**Finally, the main operational camera comes online on the Kampfer's head, showing that the mobile suit has been completely and successfully assembled.**

**Meanwhile, some distance away, Bernie and Al are lounging on a grassy hillside, looking through a pair of binoculars. The view pans over some kind of industrial complex.**

**"****Al, just call it a day." Bernie moans from the ground where he's lying. "You can look all you want to, but we're not ever gonna find that secret Feddie base."**

**"****But the captain gave us a mission, so it's important, right?" Al rhetorically asks Bernie, still looking through the binoculars.**

**"****I suppose…" tiredly sighs Bernie.**

**"****Bernie, you know something?" Al starts. "I don't understand. Why would the Federation have to hide its base?"**

**"'****Cause, the security treaty between Side 6 and the Federation isn't officially in effect yet." explains Bernie. "In other words, there're still limits on what they can do here. They have to keep it under wraps. Nobody can know. You understand that, right?"**

"That's a rather morally grey area to operate in…" Winter mused.

"I can only wonder what agreements were made for the Federation to operate inside neutral territory. Even we have to get permission to act within territory like that." explained Ironwood.

Ren gave it a brief moment of thought. "Given how Zeon is operating in the shadows, the Federation is probably doing the same."

"It makes you wonder how truly bad this war is…" Pyrrha thought out loud.

**"****Yeah…" Al mutters, pulling his head away from the binoculars. "I'm surprised that there's so few cars with their license plates around."**

**Looking down at a map at his feet, Al takes out a marker and crosses out a city block. "If we do find the base, do you think the captain'll change his mind?"**

**"****Change his mind about what, Al?" Bernie asks, uninterested.**

**"****About you being a pilot! Maybe he'll let you fly the mobile suit instead of Misha." Al replies.**

**Bernie grimaces and turns on his side. "Don't worry who's gonna be the pilot, alright?" Bernie bitterly cautions. "I'll have my chance to be an ace soon enough."**

**Noticing that Al hasn't said anything back, Bernie stands up and looks over at him. "C'mon Al, let's get out of here. Let's get something to eat."**

**"****Mmmm, just a little longer." Al says, looking through the binoculars again.**

**Al's view pans over the front gate of the base he was spying on. As he zooms in on a guard waving a truck through the gate, Al suddenly notices something. He sees that the guard at the front of the complex is the same as the worker that was unloading the secret cargo at the spaceport the other day.**

**"****Whoa!" Al gasps.**

**"****What is it?" Bernie asks the frozen Alfred. "Hey? Al?"**

**"****We found it! We found it, Bernie!" Al cheers.**

"What a coincidence!" Ruby cried out in a rare bout of sarcasm.

"Again, plot convenience." Blake pointed out.

**Later in the evening, Bernie and Al are snooping around the base's fence, before climbing over it.**

**"****Just because it was the same guy, Al, doesn't mean it's the Feddie base, alright?" Bernie skeptically notes.**

**"****Yeah, but, why don't we get closer and check it out?" counters Al.**

**"****How, exactly?" Bernie inquires.**

**"****Underground!" Al says back.**

**"****Underground?" echoes Bernie.**

**"****Yeah! We'll use the Colony Corporation's service tunnels!" answers Alfred.**

**The two of them then start to climb down a slope leading into the industrial area, using a rope fastened to the chain-link fence they just climbed over.**

**Down at the locked door leading into the service tunnels, Bernie puts a small box over the numerical coded keypad. After a few seconds, it unscrambles the code and unlocks the door.**

**"****Alright!" Al cheers as he pulls open the metal door.**

**Al turns on a flashlight and shines it down the hall. Then, pointing it to the nearby wall, Bernie and Al see a sign that reads "2-27".**

**"****If this is 2-27, then it's about two hundred meters ahead." Bernie notes, looking at a map. Turning to Al, he quips, "Looks like this'll be easy."**

**And so they start to walk down the service tunnels. At some point during the journey, Al yells out, "Bernie, hurry up!"**

**"****Calm down!" Bernie yells back.**

**Further down the dark metal tunnel, Al asks, "Isn't it around here?"**

**"****Should be a little further ahead." Bernie says.**

**As soon as he says that, he and Al stop in their tracks. A large red bulkhead has sealed off the rest of the way down the corridor.**

**"****Aw man!" Al whines. "Look, it's blocked!"**

**Bernie walks up to the bulkhead to investigate it further.**

**"****Can you open it?" asks Al.**

**"****That's funny," Bernie says, "I can't find a switch."**

"Finally the Federation has good security…" Ironwood grumbled.

**Stepping back from the large metal seal, Bernie turns to Al. "I have a good idea. Let's try it from the west side."**

**"****Alright" Al agrees.**

**The next sweeping cut shows Al and Bernie faced with a similar looking seal, even though they approached the area from a different tunnel.**

**"****Okay, wrong…" Bernie mutters.**

**Another cut, and Bernie is trying to pull open another bulkhead, presumably down another service tunnel.**

**"****I got it!" Bernie says, looking at Al and tapping his fist on the deal.**

**"****What?" Al questions.**

**"****This block is the only one with new shutters installed!" Bernie poses. "And what do they have in there that they don't want us to see?"**

**"****It could be the cargo inside there, right?" Al says enthusiastically.**

**"****Bingo." smirks Bernie.**

"That's always the thing about increased security," noticed Blake. "It only broadcasts that you have something valuable to hide."

"Yeah, you might as well just be advertising a valuable mark." Roman added.

Blake visibly bristled at the idea of having shared experience with someone like Roman Torchwick. But, even she had to admit internally that her past business with the White Fang was as equally repulsive as Roman currently was.

**Now walking back through the tunnels, Al shoves his hands dejectedly into his jacket pockets.**

**"****Ah, cheer up, Al!" Bernie says.**

**"****We have the base right here, and we can't get to the container!" Al complains.**

**"****Right." Bernie agrees. "…But, we've done more than enough to find it. Even if it is just a coincidence, this is a major breakthrough! The captain's sure gonna love this! …Huh?"**

**During his talking, Bernie didn't notice Al slip away from the side of him.**

**Shining the flashlight on Al, he sees him digging around inside a small storage panel. "Al, what're you up to?" asks Bernie.**

**Al comes back up, chuckling inside the space helmet that he found. Suddenly, Bernie gets what Al was looking for, and understands what they can do.**

**Now in the dead quiet outer space, Bernie and Al are both clad in full space suits. They're both standing on a balcony that's hanging off of the outside of the colony's walls. Across the way is a similar balcony, the one that they need to reach.**

**"****Forget about it, Al!" scolds Bernie. "It's too dangerous!"**

**"****No!" Al pouts back.**

**"****You lil' idiot, you can get killed!"**

**"****I'm fine!"**

**Having had enough of Al's arguing, Bernie grabs Al and holds him over the edge, as if he's threatening to drop him into the void of space. Al flails around in panic.**

**Pulling Al back up, Bernie snidely asks, "Were you fine just now?"**

**"****No problem!' Al bites back, his pride swelling. "You're the one who's acting scared, Bernie! I bet you're a big coward outside your mobile suit!"**

"Oh, just shut up, Al," Weiss hissed, her patience with him wearing ice-thin. How appropriate, coming from her.

**Bernie growls inside his helmet, before attacking a nearby rope to the belt of his space suit.**

**"****Okay, our target is that projection over there." Bernie formulates. "Once I'm there, you'll come across the wire. You got it?"**

**"****Uh-huh." Al nods.**

**Bernie takes off from the platform using the small thrusters on the back of his space suit. The cable that he's taking across dangles behind him from his waist, with Al holding onto the other end. With one last big boost, Bernie manages to make it onto the opposite platform.**

**Al attaches his own suit to the line and begins to thrust across it. However, he keeps on the thrusters a little too long, due to marveling at the starscape in front of him. Bernie flags him to slow down, but Al is going too fast to stop. He bumps into Bernie, nearly sending them off the platform and into the vast emptiness of space. Only Bernie grabbing onto the platform at the last second saves them.**

"Geez, that would be scary to anybody…" shivered Ruby.

"At least we're not in space." Yang said.

"Well, technically we are. Remnant is in space, so we are too, if you think about it." explained Jaune. "Right, Weiss?"

Weiss was too busy rubbing her temples at Al's stupidity to respond in any capacity.

**Once back inside, Bernie has Al stand on his shoulders, and look through an open hatch.**

**"****The coast is clear." Al reports before climbing through the hatch.**

**"****Take off your space suit and hand it down." Bernie whispers.**

**"****Right," Al whispers back, quickly stripping off his suit and handing it to Bernie.**

**Al starts to walk down the hallway, his camera out and ready to take photo evidence of the cargo they're looking for. Stopping at a vent, Al hears something.**

**"****It sounds like machinery!" he notes, before climbing into the vent.**

**"****Al, no!" Bernie yells at him, to no avail. Climbing out of the hatch, Bernie runs over to the vent. However, he's too large to squeeze into the vent. "Al, come back! You'll get caught!"**

**Al exits the vent in a power closet. As he approaches the door, he hears two members of the Federal Forces chat as they walk by the room. Once they pass, Al cracks open the door a bit and peeks through.**

**"****Those were Federation soldiers!" he thinks to himself.**

"You know what?" Ironwood sighed. "Rescind what I said about security earlier."

**Sneaking silently down the base's hallways, Al notices light shining through a vent above a vending machine. Hosting himself up to get a better look, Al looks through the vent. There, he sees the cargo that the Cyclops Team was sent to capture or destroy all along: the fully assembled RX-78NT-1 "Alex".**

**Poking his camera through the opening, Al begins to take as many pictures of the mobile suit as he can. However, he doesn't pay enough attention to hear two Federal Forces guards walk down the hallway, idly chatting about something.**

**The episode ends as Al keeps on taking pictures, unaware of the approaching threat.**

Once more, the lights along the theater's ceiling brightened, allowing the brief discussion between episodes to begin again.

"I can't that I approve of either army's actions here." started Winter.

"It must be due to how bad the war must be getting." Ironwood replied. "Still, it does leave a bad taste in my mouth…"

"And you're one to talk, General." Roman sneered. "I know you've got enough dirt to make a mountain."

"And how would you know that?" challenged Ironwood.

Roman huffed, "I have my sources."

"Right. Of course you do." Ironwood sarcastically replied. "You're as disgusting as your cheap cigars."

Neo's Scroll sounded out of nowhere, "He's right, they are cheap."

Ironwood had a satisfied smirk on his face as everyone else snickered. Roman frustratedly put out the smoldering butt of his cigar on the chair's arm and looked Neo directly in her mismatched eyes.

"Hey, don't say that in front of them!" he hissed at her. "I have a reputation to keep!"

Neo merely gave a small chuckle in response, brushing off Roman's concerns. The look in her eyes was as icy cold as her namesake. As long as she had an opportunity, Neo didn't mind making fun of anyone at their expense. That was the way of the ice cream girl.

"Hah! Suck it, Roman!" Yang jeered.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Roman grumbled. "Hey voice guy, just start the episode already."

"But we haven't even talked about it yet!" Jaune protested.

"You think I give a shit? Roll it." spat Roman. He gestured right at the screen, as if he had control over it.

Before anyone else could protest, the lights began to dim, just at the moment they went back to their brightest light setting. Everyone else couldn't help but be a little surprised that Roman's wish was seemingly obeyed. Even Roman looked a little surprised that it worked. But, considering the situation everyone was in, nobody could really argue against it. Instead, everyone just grumbled and turned back to face the screen as the next episode started.

**XXX**

**And there you have it, another episode down! Also, sorry about skipping over post-episode reactions, but to be honest there's no way everyone else other than Neo would be outright hostile to Roman. Of course this would happen. I hope the commentary during the episodes makes up for it, at least.**

**And so, with this chapter done, this has been The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Over the River and Through the Woods (Part 1)

**And we're back! Get ready for the fourth episode of Gundam 0080, because this is the part when things really go to shit for everyone. Who could've guessed that from a Gundam series, am I right? Right. Maybe it was a bad idea to bring Al along on a secret mission. Who knows! Read and find out!**

**XXX**

**After the credits, we follow Alfred where the last episode left off. He continues to take pictures of the Gundam Alex as two Federation soldiers walk down the hallway, towards Al. Looking to the side, Al sees the guards coming towards him. Thinking quickly, he hides on top of a pipe hanging from the ceiling. Just in time too, as the guards stop at the vending machine to get a drink.**

Weiss fanned herself, slightly shocked at how close Al got to being caught. "That's too close!"

Blake shrugged. "Admittedly, it's not a bad hiding spot. Speaking from experience here."

"Yeah, I can totally see that!" Nora nodded. "Imagine how much candy you can hide up in a place like that!"

**"****So anyway, I set up over the phone. I waited in that restaurant for two hours. And she never even showed up! Two hours, man, two hours! I'm telling ya, it was hard on my self-confidence!" chats one soldier to the other.**

**"****You should use that self-confidence for better things." the other soldier remarks.**

**"****I finally scored some leave, and she ruins it for me! Man, of all the lousy luck…"**

**"****Yeah, I guess so. But hey, in life you win some, you lose some. You know what I mean?"**

"This sounds like the start to some gay porn." Yang commented. That got her some rather suspect eyebrows raised in her direction. "C'mon, you can't say that it doesn't!"

"Ew ew ew, I don't wanna know what porn you watch!" Ruby cried, covering her ears.

"Yeah, I'd rather not get an insight into your… habits, thank you." chided Weiss.

"Your tastes are vanilla, blondie." Neo's Scroll said for her. Roman let out an ugly cackle, clearly enjoying the increasingly flustered look on Yang's face.

"Why do I open my stupid mouth sometimes…" muttered Yang to herself.

**As the soldiers walk away with their drinks, Al decides it's time to leave. He sneaks back to the vent he crawled into in order to access the base.**

**Bernie isn't exactly too happy at Al as he shows back up. "Al… you little…" he seethes.**

**Unfettered, Al says, "Hey, I found a mobile suit!"**

**Bernie grabs Al by the lapels. "Idiot, forget about the mobile suit—Wait, a GM? What did you see?" he asks.**

**"****I have no idea what it's called, but I got a picture of it." Al says.**

**At that point, the shot cuts to the title card, announcing the name of the episode.**

"I wonder if that's a reference to something…" Ren wondered out loud.

Jaune shrugged. "Probably nothing we'll get, anyway."

**After the card fades away, news report fills the screen.**

**"****At the top of this news hour: In response to the second treaty violation by Zeon forces at the colony, Riah issued a strong protest against Zeon. The Principality's refusal to apologize has led to unfortunate repercussions." one news anchor says.**

**The second anchor then adds, "A cabinet bill that will enforce the barring of all Zeon ships from Riah was submitted today and approved with a wide majority, with little discussion. Earlier this afternoon, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that all Zeon ships within Riah will be deported within twenty-four hours. This bill comes as no surprise to—"**

**Steiner, who was watching the news broadcast, turns off the television. He looks concerned at what he just heard.**

"Honestly, that's not very surprising." Ironwood said. "The Atlas Council would probably do the same thing if some foreign ships associated with another kingdom were acting the same way that these Zeon are. It only invites trouble if they're kept around."

**Meanwhile, Garcia heads to a bar in the seedier portion of the colony city. Walking into the bar, The Pink Elephant, Garcia sits down at the counter.**

**"****It's late. Sorry son, but we're closed for the night." the older bartender says, polishing a glass. Regardless, Garcia sits down on the long counter.**

**"****Didn't you hear me? I said we're closed." repeats the bartender.**

**"****I'd like to order a bottle of flat beer." Garcia calmly says.**

**The bartender is taken a little aback. "Uh, that's a hell of an order." he says back.**

**"****As long as it's better than horse piss." says Garcia.**

"Blehh!" Nora loudly complained. "That's gross!"

"The horse urine, or the flat beer?" Pyrrha asked.

"Both!" replied Nora.

"Yeah, fair enough." Pyrrha nodded, Jaune silently agreeing with her.

**"****Oh yeah, right." the bartender says. He walks towards a back room and beckons to Garcia. "C'mon, in the back."**

**"****I appreciate it." thanks Garcia.**

**Inside the back storage room, the bartender is typing in inputs onto a computer. "So, a Feddie base, huh? It's a big thing to look for."**

**"****We think they might be using a rented-out civilian facility." explains Garcia.**

"Oh, it's a front for spies. That weird order makes sense now. It was a password." Blake observed.

"Hey modern major general," began Roman towards Ironwood, "do you guys have any places similar to this bar around somewhere?"

Ironwood rolled his eyes and didn't dignify the criminal with an answer.

"That was a pathetic attempt at fishing for information, and you know it." scolded Winter.

Roman shrugged. "Can't blame me for giving it a shot."

**The bartender sighs a little. "This might take a while. Why don't you head to the bar and finish your beer?"**

**A few minutes later, the bartender meets Garcia back out in the main bar area.**

**"****Sorry for the wait." the bartender apologizes.**

**"****Did you find it?" Garcia asks.**

**Handing the Cyclops Team member a few papers, the bartender says, "Here's the location. Looks like an old converted factory. There's a map and the factory blueprints. The blueprints are from long before the current renovations, so I wouldn't trust them."**

**"****Thank you for the help." thanks Garcia as he handles the files, a small envelope among them.**

**As Garcia walks away, the bartender adds, "And be sure to give that letter to Steiner, will ya?"**

**"****Yeah, sure." Garica says dismissively.**

"Looks like some kind of shared history there." said Jaune.

"I'd imagine that intelligence agents would be somewhat acquainted with special forces operatives. Right, Winter?" asked Weiss.

Winter nodded. "It always helps to have someone 'in the know', so to speak. Intelligence and special forces always make an effective team."

**Back to Bernie and Al, they have left the service tunnels, and are now walking back towards their car parked up above the sharp slope.**

**"****You had it in camera mode, right? You sure you got the pictures?" Bernie asks Alfred.**

**"****Yeah Bernie, they're fine!" Al chirps back.**

**"****You're a real optimist, aren't you? You know that?" snarks Bernie.**

**"****An optimist?" Al parrots back, confused.**

**"****Don't you ever think things will go wrong?" Bernie asks back.**

**"****Never!" is Al's reply.**

Yang gave Ruby a slightly ribbing look upon hearing that exchange. Ruby just pouted and focused on the screen. She knew that Yang supported her rather optimistic outlook about helping the world out as a Huntress, but that didn't stop her from occasionally making fun of her for clearly being inspired by fantasy heroes. Maybe it was something that all older sisters did, supporting your ideals while also joking around about it.

**Later, as the pair drives back to Al's home to drop him off, Al prints out one of the pictures from his camera.**

**Showing the picture to Bernie, Al cries, "Hey, look!"**

**Looking at the picture, Bernie jokingly leer and whistles, as if he's looking at a picture of an attractive woman. Both Bernie and Al share a good laugh at this as they continue their drive, their giggles filling the car's interior.**

Smiling, Pyrrha said, "Awwww, that's sweet. They're acting like real brothers."

"Sometimes, the closest family you can have is the kind you choose." noted Nora. That elicited some rather surprised looks from the others.

"What? It's true!" Nora said, punctuated by giving Ren a side-hug. Ren lightly smiled and returned the hug.

**Later, back at the warehouse hideout, Bernie receives a less than polite welcome.**

**"****You idiot!" Garcia yells. Bernie has barely any time to react to the punch that Garcia lands on his face. "Are you trying to wreck this mission? Huh?! That was a stupid stunt!"**

Pyrrha's smile immediately dropped. "So much for that nice moment..."

**Garcia slams his fist on the photos of the Gundam. "What would you do if you got caught, huh? We're not playing games here!"**

**"****Okay Garcia, knock it off already!" Steiner irately orders.**

**"****Yeah, slow down buddy," Misha adds, patting Garcia on the shoulder. "What's done is done."**

**"****Garcia, go on back to the bar. Get an order for some uniforms," Steiner then orders.**

**"****Roger sir…" Garcia mutters, leaving the room.**

**Misha and Steiner focus their attention on Bernie, who's leaning against the wall.**

**"****Bernie, where do you got the kid at?" asks Steiner.**

**"****He's, uh, in the car. Sleeping." Bernie replies.**

**"****Go and drive him home." Steiner orders.**

**"****Yes sir." Responds Bernie.**

**"****And don't pull a stunt like that again. If you don't want to die, you'll have to follow orders." Steiner adds, sounding tired.**

"That's just plain common sense." Winter said with a light frown. "They've been pulling a lot of gambles with this mission so far. It's best not to push it."

"Well hey, they got the pictures, didn't they? You can't argue with results!" Yang offered in Bernie's defense.

Winter shook her head. "I understand where you're coming from, but even then, it's too much of a risk. Especially with someone as young as Al involved with Bernie."

Yang's shoulders drooped. "Yeah, I guess you've got me there."

**As Bernie drives Al home, Al is slumped up against his shoulder. Bernie doesn't look too irritated about it as he parks across the street from his house.**

**"****Al, we're here." Bernie tells his sleeping companion. "Al, c'mon, you're home."**

**Al is too deep in his sleep to wake up. Shaking his passenger's head, Bernie says to Al, "C'mon Al, wake up."**

**As he's shaking Al, Bernie notices the school bag Al brought with him fall to the floor. Bernie gathers it up, muttering, "Ugh, all his stuff…"**

**Bernie picks up the sketchbook that was among Al's belongings, and sees that it's open to a drawing. It's a badly made drawing of an angry looking Garcia holding a wrench. "Heh, looks just like him," Bernie chuckles.**

**Flipping through more of the pages, Bernie sees drawings of Misha and Steiner, before stopping on a picture of Al and Bernie standing next to each other, with his hand on Al's shoulder.**

**"****Huh?" Bernie mumbles. Then, smiling, he notes, "The hair's all wrong."**

Pyrrha couldn't help but smile at Bernie and Al's relationship. Even if Bernie was a soldier working on a shady military operation, that didn't mean that he wasn't capable of being a good person. Good could still exist even in those with complicated motives.

**Putting down the sketchbook, Bernie opens the car door and grabs Al. Heaving him in his hands, Bernie starts to carry him over to Chris' house.**

**Inside the house, Chris is playing with her pet cat when she hears the doorbell ring.**

**"****Chris, there's someone at the door!" Chris' mother cries from off screen.**

**"****Okay mom, stay in bed, I'll get it!" Chris says back to her.**

**Answering the door, Chris finds Bernie standing on the porch, waiting to be let in. Without a word, she stands aside for Bernie, who walks inside to the living room. There, he places the still sleeping Al on the couch. Chris is right on the ball as she places a spare blanket over Al.**

**Turning to Bernie, Chris suggests, "Let's go outside so we don't wake him."**

**Bernie and Chris walk outside to the front porch, where then Chris turns to face Bernie. "I'll just tell Al's mom that he was playing over here and then fell asleep." she says.**

**Bernie smiles. "You're a life saver. Thanks, Ms. Mackenzie."**

**As Bernie walks off of the porch and back to his car, Chris says after him, "See you later, Mr. Wiseman."**

**Just as Chris opens the door to go back inside, Bernie stops in place. "Oh, Ms. Mackenzie?"**

**"****Hm?"**

**A silence is held between the two as they smile at each other. "…You don't have to call me Mr. Wiseman," Bernie finally says. "You can call me Bernie."**

**"****And you can call me Chris, okay?" Christina says, still smiling. "Well, goodnight Bernie!"**

**"****Goodnight!" echoes Bernie as Chris goes back inside.**

**Bernie walks back down the sidewalk towards his car. "Chris huh?" he says to himself. His smile grows a little larger as he walks past the house. Inside, Chris' parents are watching him from the window, and smile at him approvingly.**

Nora whistled loudly at the screen. "Go get 'em, tiger!" she cheered. Then, looking directly over at Jaune and Pyrrha while grinning like a loon, she wiggled her eyebrows up and down to make her implications abundantly clear.

At that, Jaune just resorted to letting out a frustrated scream into his pajama sleeve. Pyrrha, on the other hand, had the most tired-looking expression possible while rubbing small circles on Jaune's back to get him to calm down. Who could've guessed that just watching a show like this would somehow turn into a trying, pseudo-romantic doppelganger scenario?

Thankfully, Ren just took hold of Nora's shoulders and turned them around to guide her attention back to the screen. Jaune and Pyrrha's silent thankfulness was palpable.

**Fade into the next day. It's now closer to Christmas, and the city is decked out in all sorts of Yuletide decorations. Walking past all the trees covered in ornaments and the Santa on the street corner advertising a department store sale, Misha makes his way into a hardware shop.**

**"****Uh, let's see…" the clerk in the shop says to Misha. "To the GK Motor Service… Yes, it's arrived. Extra strong pliers, heavy duty drill, special steel-use burner. You can cut open a battleship with all this stuff!"**

**Misha chuckles at the clerk's (rather appropriate) joke. "Or maybe a colony wall!"**

"That's not good…" Ruby whispered to herself.

**Meanwhile, as shown through the use of clever editing, Garcia is in the service tunnels under the Federation base. Opening up his tool box, Garcia plants an explosive charge into an open piping panel, as a distraction for the upcoming operation. Before closing the panel, he makes sure to blow the explosives a kiss for good luck.**

**As he leaves the base area, Garcia stops by the guard post to tell them about the 'repairs'. "Well sir, your fuses are fine now. I also adjusted your breakers. See ya later!"**

**"****Thanks, pal." waves off the guard, before returning to his ever-important magazine.**

"At this point, I really shouldn't be expecting anything from their security standards…" Ironwood groaned.

**While that is going on, Misha makes sure to park his truck not back over at the warehouse hideout, but over at a rental parking lot not too far from the Federation mobile suit facility. Clearly, he has something else in mind for that truck.**

**While all of this is going on, Al is at school, absentmindedly doodling in his sketchbook during the break between classes.**

**One of his fellow classmates walks up to him and looks at his drawing. "What're you drawing, Al?"**

**"****A mobile suit," Al replies, not looking up.**

**"****A Federal Forces one?" the classmate asks.**

**Al adds a few details to the chest of the Zaku II he's drawing. "Nah, a Zeon one."**

**"****Huh? Why're ya drawing an enemy mobile suit?" the boy asks.**

**Looking up, Al furrows his brow and asks, "What? What'd ya mean 'enemy'?"**

**"****They're bad!" the boy exclaims. 'C'mon, don't ya ever watch the news?"**

**"****Huh? Who cares about the news?" Al counters. Before he can say any more, Chay and Telcott walk into frame.**

**"****Hey Al!" Chay greets.**

**"****Al, what're you doing?" Telcott asks.**

**Al gets a smug look on his face. "Hey Chay, this guy says that Zeon are our enemies." he sneers, expecting some kind of back up.**

**"****Yeah, sure, that's right," Chay replies. "What's so weird about that?"**

**A look of confusion grows on Al's face, before turning to his other friend. "Telcott, what do you think?"**

**"****Well, the Zeon are stuck-up bad guys. My mom says so." answers Telcott.**

**Glaring at his friends, Al grumbles, "Does your mom tell you everything?"**

**"****Well, grown-ups are supposed to know—" Telcott says before being cut off.**

**"****The Zeon are way cooler! Zakus are really powerful and GMs are totally wimpy and they suck!" Al rants.**

**"****But the best one is the Gundam, right?" the random classmate interjects.**

**"****What the heck is a Gundam?" Al asks, now fully irritated.**

"We'll probably getting the full answer to that shortly." Neo's Scroll quipped for her.

"Everything coming from you is 'shortly'." Yang verbally shot at Neo.

That insult actually managed to get to Neo, her eyes rapidly switching colors in anger. She got up to confront the blonde brawler, only to feel an invisible force return her to her seat against her will. After a minute of struggling against it, Neo resigned herself to just sitting in her chair and giving Yang a nasty glare.

"_Please stop having to make us intervene._" the mysterious voice said out of nowhere.

**"****The Federation's most powerful mobile suit. Don't you know about it?" the classmate asks back.**

**"****Yeah, I've heard of it!" Chay adds. "It's killed more than a hundred Zakus already!"**

**"****Whoa!" Telcott exclaims.**

**"****A hundred?" Al protests. "Nun-uh, you're making it up!"**

**"****It's true!" Chay retorts.**

**"****You know, you're really clueless…" adds the random classmate.**

**It's about at this point that Dorothy walks across the argument and decides to listen in on the boys.**

**"****Yeah, the Zeon are total scum!" Chay says.**

"I'd say both sides are coming off pretty bad in this show, actually." Weiss said.

"Such is life. It's rarely something that can easily be categorized into what is good and bad. Anyone can go to certain lengths to get what they want." Winter agreed. Blake nodded at what Winter had to say, knowing this from her experience with the White Fang.

**Telcott adds, "And only scum likes scum ya know."**

**"****Did your mom say that too?" Al shoots back.**

**"****Al, what's with you?" the classmate can't help but ask.**

**"****Eh, he's been acting weird lately…" Chay explains. "He doesn't even play with us anymore!"**

**Thankfully, before the fight can drag on even more, Dorothy decides to intervene on Al's behalf.**

**"****You guys shut up and sit down! Class is going to start already!" she exclaims at the group. "Leave Al alone, just cut it out!"**

**Chay chuckles at Dorothy's outburst. "Oh, I get it. You two are going out, right?" he comments.**

**"****Chay!" "What're you talking about?!" Al and Dorothy reply simultaneously.**

**"****Sorry for butting in," Chay teases. "We'll just leave you two love birds alone! Heh, lovebirds!" The rest of the group takes that as a sign to leave with Chay. And so, the school boys walk off, away from Dorothy and Al.**

"See, Nora? That's what it's like with you recently." Jaune complained.

Nora shrugged. "You can't stop me. I call it like I see it."

**"****Thanks a lot!" Al complains to Dorothy.**

** "****Look, the teacher's back…" Dorothy whispers back.**

**Looking at the head of the class, Al notices the teacher staring directly at him and Dorothy.**

**"****You two back there!" the teacher yells from the front. "Quiet down now, please!"**

**Al frowns and looks down. He isn't too happy at both being yelled at by the teacher and having that argument with his friends.**

**Meanwhile, at an otherwise serene park elsewhere on the colony, Steiner and the bartender that gave Garcia the information earlier are sitting on a bench. Despite the calm surroundings, the expressions on each of their faces looks somewhat grim.**

**"****It's been a long time, Charlie" Steiner says. "How've you been?"**

**"****Still alive Hardy, somehow..." deadpans Charlie.**

**Cutting to the chase, Steiner then adds, "Well, I'm listening."**

**Staring at the ground, Charlie says, "You guys are decoys. They're playing you, you're just here to locate the Gundam."**

**"****I know that." Steiner admits, somewhat resigned.**

**"****And how did you know?" Charlie asks in return.**

**"****When Andy went down, they assigned me some kid rookie," explains Steiner, "And they leave us to find an escape ship of our own. I'd have to be stupid not to see it. I suppose the brass have other plans, don't they?"**

"Their commanding officer from a few episodes ago certainly didn't seem to like them very much…" Ruby mused out loud.

"It's just ineffective leadership." Ironwood observed. "It's hard to avoid personal feelings sometimes, but this is just a plain waste of resources. They better have a better plan in place if they decided to have this operation be a decoy."

Winter nodded. "Agreed. There's plenty of better ways they could've gone about this, considering they already had an intelligence presence in the city."

"It wouldn't be the first time a leader ruined their own allies for their own reasons, and it probably won't even be the last." Blake said, a hint of bitterness at the corners of her sentence.

**Charlie nods. "Well…"**

**The scene cuts to across the pond where Steiner and Charlie are sitting, to a small family racing RC boats. "I'm winnin', dad!" the child cheers.**

**"****You sure are, son!" beams the father.**

**Cutting back to Charlie and Steiner, Charlie hands over a nondescript shopping bag over to Steiner. "Here you go, your uniforms. Your passports arrive in two days. I'd run, if I were you, Steiner. I feel that the war is gonna end very soon."**

**Steiner stares straight on ahead. "We're not gonna win."**

**"****You're right." Charlie agrees, his expression stone-faced.**

**Looking up, Steiner fixes his gaze on the family racing their RC boats from a nearby bridge. "It's a nice colony, isn't it Charlie?" he comments.**

**"****Yes… yes it is, Hardy." agrees Charlie again.**

Ironwood sighed, sounding a bit emotionally tired. "It can be hard being the only person seeing how things are going to end up because of your higher-ups. I used to be in Steiner's position a lot before I got to the rank I am today."

"That's why it's better to be in business for yourself." Roman noted. "At least then you'd have an idea of what to actually do and how to get it."

Even if Ironwood didn't vocalize it, he did admit that Roman Torchwick had the faintest whiff of a point. But it certainly wouldn't do him any good agreeing with someone of his ilk. That, and when people and nations were on the line, one couldn't afford to look out for just themselves. Duty just wouldn't allow for that.

**The scene cuts away to what Al and Bernie are doing, now that Al is out of school. The both of them are currently on the rooftop of the warehouse that Cyclops Team is renting to be their temporary base of operations. They have a nice view of the colony city as they chat.**

**"****What you took a picture of, Al, was a new model Gundam. It's a Feddie secret weapon!" Bernie explains to Al.**

**"****A Gundam?" Al questions. "Like the one that shot down a hundred Zakus?"**

**"****Wow, you know a lot, don't you?" exclaims Bernie.**

**"****I guess so." Al says. "So Bernie, can ya beat it?"**

**Bernie puts on a confident face. "It's a piece of cake."**

**Al leans in towards Bernie closer. "A piece of cake?!"**

**"****Well, at least half a piece," clarifies Bernie. "I'd say our chances are fifty-fifty."**

**Al looks back down towards the ground. "The Gundam's pretty powerful, huh?"**

**"****Don't say that…" Bernie chides. Then, after a small bout of awkward silence, Bernie decides to switch towards a more pertinent subject. "Has Chris said anything to you, or has been asking anything about me?"**

**"****Nope, Bernie. Nothing." Al replies. **

**Bernie sighs a dejected, loveless sigh. "Well, you know, she's a Feddie soldier, right? I was thinking, if I had the chance, I could get some information from her. That's all."**

"Suuuuuuuuuuure." Yang smirked. "I've heard that one a lot before."

"It's like the 'it was just a social experiment' excuse for when someone asks you about a crush." added Blake.

Nora moved like she was about to add something, but she could feel Ren's gaze bore into her skull. She decided to let it slide just this once. Once.

**"****I can try and ask her!" offers Al.**

**"****I guess that'll be okay…" Bernie acquiesces.**

**Another cut, this time to Cyclops Team looking over a map of the colony city on a computer screen. Some building blocks are labeled and colored in with blue, while others are colored in with red.**

**"****The blue signifies the known Feddie-controlled buildings." Steiner's voice explains. "The green lines are underground passages. The red one is the factory where they stashed the Gundam. There, you have the Feddie base layout. Memorize everything."**

**At this point, Misha comes in with his own commentary. "I have several weapons for the mobile suit in three locations: here, here and here. Your turn, Garcia."**

**With that verbal transition, Garcia adds, "We're going to blast a large hole in the colony wall at this point right over here." He then jerks his thumb at a cross-shaped mark on the map. "It should be big enough to get a suit out of. I set a pretty big charge!"**

Winter ran a hand through her hair in shock. "Madmen. They're madmen. Blowing up a colony wall?"

"That'll suck out everyone's air!" Ruby cried.

Ironwood frowned. "At this point, they don't care. All that matters is the mission, and getting out alive. That's the best they can wish for, with how this operation has gone… even at the expense of others."

"Horrible. Absolutely horrible…" Weiss spat.

**"****At 1800 hours, Misha's suit will create a diversion. They'll cross from here to the factory perimeter through the city." Steiner continues.**

**Bernie pipes up, "So this diversion means that he'll be a decoy, right?"**

**Steiner grimaces, while Misha gives a more confident answer. "They will not dare attack me, I will be hightailing it down that street."**

**"****The three of us will enter the base through the underground passage. We're not sure if the Gundam is operational. If we can't steal it, then we will just have to destroy it." further explains Steiner. "No matter what happens, when we leave the factory we will all escape, each one using different routes. We will meet tomorrow, 1600 hours. That is all."**

**With the planning meeting now concluded, the Cyclops Team then gets to making their final preparations for Operation Rubicon. Garcia is busying himself with loading all the pistols and guns the ground team are going to use, while Bernie checks out some bulletproof vests in a box they have.**

**"****Have you ever worn body armor before?" Garcia asks Bernie out of nowhere.**

**Bernie tilts his head slightly. "Uh, no…"**

**Garcia gives Bernie a look, before getting back to loading the guns. "Bernie… You already know that you're the only guy in this unit who ranks below me. I don't want to lose someone I've got rank on. …Don't get killed, okay?"**

Pyrrha tilted her head a bit. "I guess they made up from earlier."

"I guess his anger earlier was more from a place of concern, or something." Jaune posited.

"Battle is the great equalizer. You can't go in with any personal grudges, otherwise you're guaranteed to fail when you need your allies the most." was Ironwood's rather sage observation.

**Bernie can't help but smile slightly. It seems like Garcia really does care about him to a degree, even if that haymaker to the face earlier in the episode seemed to prove otherwise. However, not long after, a ringing phone breaks up the nice moment of comradery in the warehouse. It's Al calling.**

**"****Bernie! Listen, I asked Chris if I could visit the base, and she said I could!" Al begins to explain over the phone to Bernie. "So, I might get a chance to get into that place again, right?**

**"****When are you going?" Bernie asks.**

**"****Tomorrow." Al replies.**

**Bernie looks shocked. "Tomorrow?! No, Al, you can't go there!"**

**"****But why, it's a great chance! What's wrong?" Al argues into the phone.**

**"****I said don't do it, and I mean it! You hear that? Al, you stay away from there!" Bernie yells back into the phone.**

**"****But… but Bernie, why?!" Al loudly asks again. He doesn't get an answer, as Bernie hangs up the phone without further explanation. If only he saw Garcia polishing the guns on Bernie's end of the line, he would understand why. Instead, Al simply glares to himself, and resolves to needlessly get himself into a dire situation.**

"_Damn it_, Al!" Weiss groaned. "Just stay away!"

"He's… just really set in his ways, Weiss." was Pyrrha's rather weak defense. At this point, even she was finding it hard to defend Al constantly planning on throwing himself into danger's way.

**Steiner lights up a smoke and Misha loads up his flask with whiskey as the Kampfer they plan on using gets ready for tomorrow's deployment. Climbing out of the mobile suit's cockpit, Misha raises the half-empty whiskey bottle to Steiner. "To victory, life or death!" he cheers. Steiner simply smirks while Misha takes a swig.**

**Steiner flicks away his cigarette and watches it hit the floor. "To victory. Life or death."**

**INTERMISSION CARD**

**XXX**

**Are you ready for shit to hit an industrial-grade ventilation fan, and turn into a fecal mist? I bet you are! You're just gonna have to stick around for the next chapter to see everyone's reactions, though. Hopefully it's worth it to you.**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'm signing off of this chapter for now!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Over the River and Through the Woods (Part 2)

**So, I tried to keep track of the time it takes me to do all this stuff, and I've found that it takes me about six hours to fully transcribe the dialogue and action of an episode of Gundam 0080, and then writing the actual character commentary for this fanfic. I have no idea if that's a good amount of time spent on it or not. What do you guys think? Anyways, I'll get on this more in the author's notes at the bottom, but for now, let's get back to the show!**

**XXX**

**INTERMISSION CARD**

**The episode resumes over some shots of the city the next day, festively decorated for Christmas. Cheerful music is playing as people walk down the street, shopping and otherwise completely unware of the calamity that is going to befall them later in the day. However, Al pays no mind to the toys in the store windows, instead running full speed towards the military base where the Gundam is at.**

**Meanwhile, Bernie, Steiner, and Garcia, all wearing Federal Forces uniforms, cut their way through a reinforced bulkhead in the underground tunnels, now infiltrating the base. Bernie is tensely holding a pistol up to face the empty hallway.**

**Steiner merely pats his nervous comrade on the shoulder. "Get a hold of yourself, Bernie."**

"Poor guy, he really is a rookie." Yang commented.

"Hey, everyone gets nerves on their first big mission." defended Jaune.

"Speaking from experience?" smirked Yang.

After a brief pause to consider his answer, Jaune simply said, "Yeah." At least he was comfortable enough now to admit his flaws when it came to his start as a Hunter.

**Up above, Al finally arrives to the medical center that's a disguised Federation base, and a secretary gives him some directions. "Yes, Professor Richard Lumunba is expecting you. He's in lab number two, on the fourth floor."**

**"****Thanks, ma'am!" Bernie cries as he rushes off to meet the professor in charge of the base.**

**"****Oh, don't run in the building!" the secretary calls after him.**

**Stopping in front of an elevator, a rather official-looking man gives Al a cursory look. "This elevator is for authorized personnel only. Visitors have to use that elevator over there, young man." The scene is punctuated by the man using his official pass to open the elevator, something that Al clearly picks up on.**

**Meanwhile, inside the professor's lab, an interview is being conducted with Professor Lumunba, with the reporter asking some rather tough questions. "Hmm, I see. There are rumors that this facility is involved in military research. How is it that—"**

**"****Those're irresponsible rumors with no basis in reality!" the wheelchair-bound professor responds to the reporter, rather aggressively.**

**Undaunted, the female reporter presses her questioning further. "I've heard your research involves mechanical arms, is it not?" The professor in turn can't help but nod at the information she just told him.**

Both Ironwood and Winter experienced a moment of internal shock and whiplash. It was crazy how much Professor Lumunba reminded them of Pietro Polendina. The comparisons were uncanny: crippled with an advanced chair to move around in, an old black scientific genius with glasses, and he even worked on robotics. Was this the feeling that that Jaune and Pyrrha couple a few seats away were experiencing? It was seriously odd for them now. There was no doubt in their minds that this was probably one of the reasons their mysterious captors wanted them to see this show. The resemblances to people audience members knew was just too good to not show them to get their reactions. But for what reasons?

**"****Well, Professor Lumunba, wouldn't mobile suits need this technology you've developed, in order to design mechanical arms and legs for military weapons?" the reporter lady asks further.**

**Professor Lumunba adjusts his glasses. He already has an answer in mind. "Toasters and cannons share similar technology too, you know."**

Ruby nodded in complete agreement. "He's right, you know."

Weiss looked baffled. "What? How does that even work?"

"We'll work on that once we're back at Beacon. Trust me, it's so cool!" squeed Ruby.

"Just do it outside of the dorm." Blake asked of her. "I don't want it to burn down."

"…No promises." Ruby muttered.

**The reporter sits back in her chair, clearly not expecting such an odd comparison. "…Yes, but—"**

**At that moment, Al walks into the lab, cutting off the rather intense interview (more like a light interrogation) short. The professor takes note of Al walking in and turns to dismiss the reporter.**

**"****Oh, I'm sorry, but that will be all for today," he says to the reporter. "I have another interview to give."**

**Then, turning his mechanized wheelchair away from the reporter, Professor Lumunba offers a hand to Al to shake. "You must be Alfred," he greets, "My name is Richard. Chris told me about you." Al takes the professor's hand and shakes it.**

**Suddenly, there's a cut to Garcia rather graphically jamming a knife into a Federal Forces guard while also strangling him in a chokehold, while another corpse covered in blood sits slumped over against a wall of the security room he's in. Bernie is outside of the door, trying to distract some other soldiers from going inside.**

"Whoa!" Jaune cried out in shock.

"That came outta nowhere!" exclaimed Yang.

Neo scoffed before typing into her Scroll. "He's doing it all wrong. Go for the neck slash every time if you want to be stealthy."

**"****Y-yeah, got here a week ago as well, mate!" Bernie says, in a rather bad Australian accent.**

**"****Hey, you have a funny accent…" one of the random soldiers comments. "Where're you from? Sounds kinda Australian."**

"Australian?" Nora wondered, scratching her head. "He sounds kinda like Velvet now."

"Maybe it's their world's version of where she's from." Ren offered in explanation.

"Huh. I guess some stuff carries over across worlds then. Go figure." shrugged Jaune.

"And yet still no Faunus yet. I guess not everything can carry over…" Pyrrha also observed.

**As Garcia disables the base security, Bernie can still be heard trying to play himself off as a fresh Federation recruit. "Yeah... I was born and raised in Sydney!"**

**"****Sydney, eh? Nice place?" the random soldier then asks.**

**"****Oh, beautiful! This time of year, the city is all covered in snow!" Bernie bluffs. If only he knew that in the context of the Universal Century and tragedies thereof, this is easily one of the worst cover stories he could possibly think of. As most people know, shouldering craters covered in space colony debris don't look pretty covered in snow.**

**Elsewhere, Misha launches his Kampfer, completely demolishing the warehouse it was constructed in as the powerful, speedy mobile suit stands up. His flask wildly flails around on the string it's attached to as the Kampfer engages its thrusters, ready to move out. Inside the base, Bernie, Steiner, and Garcia are finally walking their way towards the Gundam Alex. The feet are visible in the hangar right down the hallway. Their plan is fully coming together.**

**A random civilian woman shrilly screams as she sees the Kampfer, causing the other people walking down the street too to notice it and freeze in terror.**

**At a government building for the Riah Republic, an officer of Side 6's forces gets into an argument with a Federation officer over the Kampfer being spotted. "What our forces are equipped with is mainly anti-personnel and anti-tank weaponry. A mobile suit is essential to—"**

**"****The general forces will only act as backup to the Riah forces." the Federation officer drolly says over the phone. "We don't want any complaints from you and the colonists!"**

**"****But sir!" the Riah Republic officer tries to protest.**

**"****I think it'd do your men good to have some real battle experience!" the Federation Forces commander coldly says, before hanging up the phone on the Riah Republic officer. Then turning to a nearby comms technician, he then orders, "Bring the ****Gray Phantom ****inside! If the suit comes near us, form a defensive line with the GMs and Guncannons!"**

Everyone looked over to Ironwood, expecting a comment about military leadership upon seeing that scene. Instead, Ironwood just gave them a cocked eyebrow.

"What? You should know how I feel about these people at the moment. This Federation is hardly a very good or effective military force."

**The ****Gray Phantom****, a ****Pegassus****-class assault carrier ship and sister ship to the legendary ****White Base****, flies through the colony port's internal ship airlock and into colony airspace. Even if it appears to be a powerful presence to defend the colony, in reality it is really only there to defend the Federation's interests.**

**Meanwhile, back inside of Professor Lumunba's research lab, Al is busying himself with playing around with a robotic arm that's on display. He's picking up toy blocks with it as part of a test.**

**"****The real problem is the control system. You understand, Alfred? It's still too big for any human to use." Professor Lumunba explains to Al about mechanical systems.**

**"****But mobile suits are useful, aren't they?" Al can't help but ask.**

**The professor looks a bit troubled thinking about it. "They are… a necessary evil." As he says this, the camera goes to where the Kampfer is going down the colony city's main avenue, with people fleeing in terror at the sight of it. "They were never made to bring anyone happiness."**

"Like all weapons…" Winter said mostly to herself.

"I dunno, my Crescent Rose makes me happy!" said Ruby.

"That's because you treat it as your hobby." said Weiss. "You spend as much time on your gun as Yang does on her bike."

"And how is that a bad thing?" both Yang and Ruby asked at the same time.

Weiss looked like she was going to respond to that for a moment, but then just settled on giving a rather ambiguous shrug. It wasn't worth fighting the both of them on this.

**As the Riah Republic forces get ready to engage the Kampfer with their missile trucks, mini-MS, and helicopters, the officer from earlier can be heard giving out orders. "Attention, all personnel! This is not a drill! Report to your stations!"**

**"****Mobile suit is believed to be Zeon in origin!" a helicopter pilot reports. "It's moving west on 18****th**** Street!"**

**Back in the lab, Al secretly steals Professor Lumunba's security pass while the professor receives the news about the Kampfer approaching. "Inside the colony?!" the older man exclaims in shock.**

**"****Is the unit operational?" a Federation soldier asks on the other end of a communications line.**

**"****Of course it's operational!" the professor shoots back. He is too distracted to notice Al sneak off with his pass card, making a mistake in his lack of oversight.**

"Alfred!" Weiss barked in frustration.

Pyrrha didn't even bother to defend Al at this point.

**"****No response, and it hasn't altered its course!" some Riah Republic helicopter pilot reports to his superior officer.**

**"****It'll be passing the residential area soon, just hold off! As soon as the civilians are clear, let 'em have it!" the officer then relays to the missile truck crews on the ground.**

**At the same time, the other members of Cyclops Team have made it to the Gundam Alex's hangar. There isn't much time to dwell on that, however, as the Kampfer starts to pick up speed and starts flying down the street, the shotgun it's holding scraping against the asphalt pavement of the road. "Mobile suit moving rapidly, heading for the residential block!" a Riah soldier reports.**

**Back in the base, the random Federation soldier that Bernie ran into earlier runs into the hangar, Bernie's bad cover story about being Australian and it snowing in Sydney ringing in his head. He stops and raises his rifle at Bernie, who grits his teeth.**

**"****Hey, Sydney boy!" the soldier calls out. "This time of year, it's summer in Australia!" As if that's the real big issue with Bernie's cover story.**

"They really should've thought of cover stories before they began this operation." Winter complained.

"I know, right? It's an amateur move." Roman agreed. Winter simply grunted in disgust at Roman agreeing with her.

**At the same time, Al uses the security pass he stole to use the elevator that opens into the secret Federation base. Once he reaches the right floor, sirens start blaring, signaling that Cyclops Team has been caught.**

**In the hangar, Federation soldiers are holding the Zeon team at gunpoint as both Steiner and Bernie are being patted down. "Hey look at this! These are Zeon guns!" one soldier says.**

**At that, Steiner gives a secret signal to Garcia, who is hiding on a nearby walkway, by tapping his foot on the ground. On cue, Garcia opens fire and kills two Federation soldiers, while Bernie and Steiner beat up the ones that were searching them. Garcia then blows the brains out of one soldier rather gorily as Steiner dives to toss a shotgun to Bernie.**

Jaune audibly dry-heaved upon seeing the headshot.

Ruby clutched at her stomach upon hearing that awful retching noise. "Jaune, don't do that, I'll—HRRK!" Now she got in on the dry-heaving action too.

"Just breathe deep, Ruby." advised Yang. "You too, Vomit Boy."

**"****Bernie!" Steiner shouts, throwing the gun at his teammate. Right as the gun leaves his hands, he's shot through his arm by a nearby Feddie. Bernie gasps in shock, before taking up the shotgun and blasting the soldier that shot Steiner in the side.**

"Steiner!" Ruby cried out.

"This isn't going to end up good for any of them…" Blake pessimistically noted. The writing (and blood) was on the wall already for Cyclops Team.

**Witnessing all this is Al, who's hiding underneath some nearby boxes as Federal Forces soldiers rush in to apprehend or kill Cyclops Team. He sees Bernie dragging a wounded Steiner, his face twisted in pain and covered in blood, over to cover while Garcia does his best to bloodily slaughter the incoming guards with dual-wielded sub-machineguns. However, that isn't enough, as he gets shot in the gut with an assault rifle just as he blows a hole in a distant Feddie's head with his guns. He staggers back in pain, his eyes nearly bulging out from the sheer force of the bullet hitting his body.**

Ren could feel Nora's iron-hard grip squeezing at his lower arm. Even for someone who liked fighting, this was a bit too far for her tastes. He decided to do what he did best, and started to calm down Nora a bit with his Semblance. His wrist certainly thanked him as Nora's hand slowly relaxed. At least Ren managed to avoid getting a few bones broken.

**Outside, the Riah Republic forces are about to engage the Kampfer with their missile trucks as planned. "Fire!" one Riah soldier orders as the missiles launch out of their tubes.**

**The Kamper is built for speed, first and foremost. That's why it has no problem dodging the missiles coming its way. However, the missiles do a good job of continuing on the trajectory they were originally fired at, which ends up completely devastating Al's elementary school completely by accident.**

**"****Dear god… the school!" a soldier gasps as he watches the Kampfer come out from behind the smoking rubble, completely unharmed. He doesn't get much more time to dwell on it, as the Kampfer's giant shotgun completely shreds both the missile truck and the mini-MS escorting it.**

"Idiots!" Ironwood hissed. It was hard for anyone to disagree with his take on the performance of the Riah Republic's military forces so far.

**In the skies above, the ****Gray Phantom ****observes the destruction going on down below. "Scarlet Team, launch!" the captain of the ship orders.**

**On command, the team of Mass-Production Guncannons and GMs starts to engage the Kampfer, launching from the ****Gray Phantom's ****twin launch decks. The Kampfer flies up to meet them in combat. It shreds the cockpit of one Mass-Produced Guncannon with its shotgun, before tossing it aside and firing the missile tubes attached to its hips at two approaching GMs, blowing them up. The flaming wreckage of the Guncannon crashes directly on top of the colony's city center, where civilians try to shield their loved ones from the blast.**

"I hope that woman and her baby didn't get crushed…" Ruby whimpered.

"I'm sure they're fine, Ruby. It looked like the wreckage was far away from them." Yang tried to reassure her. But honestly, she wasn't too sure herself. It definitely seemed like something this show would do, killing off a lady and her baby like that.

**Back in the underground Federation base, Garcia reloads one of his sub-machineguns and dashes over to the cover where Bernie is trying his best to cover himself and Steiner. "Hey Bernie, how's the captain?" Garcia asks over the gunfire.**

**"****He's bleeding really bad!" Bernie replies.** **Steiner looks to be barely clinging onto life, slumped over against a metal crate and limply holding his wounds. "He needs help, I think he's unconscious!" adds Bernie.**

"Blood loss…" observed Ironwood. "He won't last long at this rate. Even hitting non-vital areas can be deadly."

Ruby frowned upon hearing that comment.

**As Al runs down the corridors of the secret underground base, above ground the Kampfer launches a bazooka at the last remaining GM, which is taking cover behind a suspension bridge. One explosion later, and all resistance is eliminated.**

**"****Scarlet Team destroyed!" a comms technician reports to the Federal Forces commander from earlier. "Enemy mobile suit approaching the base!"**

**"****What's happening in the G Room?" the commander asks back in turn.**

**"****A firefight. We can't approach, there's no way in!" the technician says.**

**"****Get me Lt. Mackenzie!" the commander orders.**

**Cut to a shot of Chris running down a hallway in the base, already fully suited up in her pilot suit. "Fighting inside the colony? They can't do this!" she says over her helmet's headset to the commander.**

"I know! And they do it anyway!" Weiss cried out.

"It's disgusting the lengths these people will go to." added Winter to her sister's comment.

**"****Would you rather the enemy gets the Alex, Lieutenant?" the commander icily asks back at her.**

**In the hangar itself, Garcia ties a headband around his head, reloads his automatic pistol, and pulls some mines out of a box that Steiner had been carrying earlier. "Bernie," he says, "we can't steal it now! Take the captain and get out of here! Go! I'm… I'm gonna blow it up! Now cover me until I blast it!"**

**Without waiting for a response from Bernie, Garcia runs out of cover and makes his way up the catwalk that leads to the Gundam Alex's cockpit. Al is watching all of this through the small vent he took pictures of the Gundam though in the last episode. All Al can do is call out in horror "Garcia!"**

**The cry is all for naught, as a Federation soldier shoots Garcia directly through the heart, a gory spray of crimson blood flowering out of his chest. Garcia groans a low noise, before falling down the stairs and landing on his back. Al gasps in horror as he witnesses Garcia's final actions, where the dying man pulls the detonators on his mines and blows himself up. It's for naught, as the Gundam itself is completely unharmed.**

"Pointless… it was all pointless…" Pyrrha whispered to herself. After seeing Garcia finally come around to caring for Bernie, it was saddening to see him die in such a pointless way. The pat she got on the back from Jaune only served to slightly mitigate that pervasive feeling.

**The explosion completely crumples the wall that Al was leaning against, sending him and a large amount of debris flying back. Chris herself is forced to stop and wait for the explosion's debris to clear, while Bernie uses the opportunity to put on Steiner's helmet and try to escape with him. As Chris rushes in towards the Gundam, one guard cries out, "Lieutenant, it's not safe!"**

**Chris climbs into the cockpit just in time for the Kampfer to arrive at the base. Al sees Chris launching from his position in the rubble, shocked to see his next-door neighbor be the pilot of the dreaded Gundam. Before Al can process it or the Kampfer can land a shot on the Gundam Alex with its shotgun, Chris flies the Gundam backwards, crashing through the hangar wall while skidding along the ground on her mobile suit's back.**

**As the Gundam Alex prepares to stand up, the Kampfer manages to land a direct hit on the Gundam with its shotgun. However, due to the chobam armor layering that the Alex is equipped with, none of the shot manages to penetrate. In response to the attack, Chris fires the Gundam's head-mounted Vulcan cannons, but the Kampfer manages to dodge the bullets due to its speed.**

Roman whistled in surprise. "Damn, that thing is tough! A lot better than an Atlesian Paladin."

**On the ground, Al runs outside to watch the battle, while Bernie passes of himself and Steiner as wounded Federation soldiers. "Is he wounded?" one random Feddie soldier asks Bernie.**

**"****Look at him, isn't it obvious?!" Bernie shouts back.**

**"****The med unit's that way!" the soldier says, pointing off to the side. All around them, soldiers are running around in a panic, some wounded, some unable to join the attack. This is a battle of mobile suits now, not men.**

**Al sees before him the Kampfer and the Gundam Alex, facing each other directly in a showdown. Chris pulls out the beam saber that her Gundam is equipped with and activates it, summoning a blade of raw, pink-tinted energy. The Kampfer lands next to a trailer, one of the hidden weapon caches that Misha set up during his preparations.**

**"****Okay, I'll show you how to fight!" the Russian taunts. He punches one of the Kampfer's fists through the top of the trailer, before pulling out a series of massive mines linked together like a chain.**

**The Gundam Alex rushes towards the Kampfer, its beam saber at the ready. As the Gundam closes the distance, Misha flails the chain mines at Chris' mobile suit, wrapping the explosives around the Gundam like a bola. Chris only gets a moment to stop in place in shock, before the mines detonate in a massive, fiery explosion.**

"Holy shit…" Jaune said under his breath.

"If that thing doesn't kill that robot, then I don't know what will." admired Roman.

**Only Al and the Kampfer are seen staring at the explosion, with the Kampfer standing resolute, bits of metal debris bouncing harmlessly off of its metal chassis. Al, however, is doing his best to remain standing upright against the force of the explosion. His groaning and whimpering is being drowned out in the deafening noise of the blast.**

**Once the smoke clears, however, it's quickly proven that Misha's attack was useless. As with the shotgun blast earlier, the chobam armor is what took the brunt of the damage. The metal plates fall off the Gundam Alex, revealing the powerful, sleek chassis that was underneath. The only real damage is that one of the Gundam's head antennas is damaged. Misha can't help but gasp in horror at his foe still standing before him.**

**In a last, desperate attack, Misha makes his Kampfer charge at the Alex with his own beam sword. However, Chris has a better plan in mind. Tossing aside her beam saber, she instead activates the large Vulcan cannons hidden in the Gundam Alex's arms, and opens fire on the Kampfer's cockpit at point-blank range. The Kampfer is thrown about from the sheer force of the bullets hitting it, and Misha's fate is displayed by his flask being thrown around on its string, being hit by debris from the cockpit.**

At this point, everyone is too shocked by the sheer level of carnage on display to really say anything. Instead, they all sat there, slack jawed in horror and awe at the kind of brutality on the screen. They all knew that they were probably better off not seeing what was happening to Misha directly at that point. It would've been too much to stomach, literally in Jaune and Ruby's cases.

**The smoldering wreckage of the Kampfer crashes into a heap on the ground, all while Al sees his second taste of death for the night. It's too much for him. Whimpering in fear, he runs off in the opposite direction of the Alex. It's a bitter truth, now knowing what was really in store for the life he chose to get involved in.**

**And finally, as if in one last act of spite on behalf of Cyclops Team, the charges that Garcia planted to cover their escape detonate, ripping a hole in the colony wall. The atmosphere of the colony is being sucked out through it in a spiraling vortex, as a final spit in the face to the innocent civilians living in Side 6.**

**"****There's a hole in the colony hull!" the Feddie comms technician reports to the Federation commander. "The internal pressure's dropping rapidly!"**

**Scowling, the commander turns to face the technician. "And what about the Alex?" he asks.**

"The colony is at risk, and all he cares about is the robot?!" Pyrrha yelled, finally raising her voice. Everyone was a bit surprised at that one. It was rare to see someone like Pyrrha express her abject disgust at something like that. "That's awful, absolutely awful!"

After that outburst, Pyrrha rubbed her face, trying to massage out the stress. "These military leaders… Ugh!"

"We're right there with you, Pyrrha." Weiss said in solidarity.

Winter nodded. "Indeed. And that's coming from an Atlesian Specialist."

**"****Fog's forming because of the breach, I can't see it!" complains the technician.**

**It's a grim sight at the wreckage of the Federation base. Misha's broken flask drips its contents onto his shredded corpse, with his hands still clutching the controls of the Kampfer. The Gundam Alex stands motionless, towering above the wreckage of the Kampfer. Even if it won, it doesn't feel like a good victory at all.**

**Al wanders over to where Bernie is holding a dying Steiner. Al can only freeze up in shock as Bernie briefly points his gun at him in fear, before lowering it slightly upon seeing who it is. There is no words exchanged between them, only a single unblinking look that conveys what so many words cannot. Hell is in their eyes as the episode comes to a close.**

The lights of the theater started to brighten again, and yet this time nobody bothered to move to talk about what they had just seen. It was easily one of the bleakest episodes of a show any of them had ever seen. It was chaos, blood, and despair. Anything remotely positive that happened in the course of the series so far had been completely negated in a half-hour span. Frankly, it was downright haunting what they saw.

"If nobody has anything to add, the next episode shall begin shortly." came the mysterious voice out of nowhere.

"…Do we have to?" Ruby meekly asked out loud.

"Yes."

"Now this is just plain unfair!" Jaune complained.

"Too bad. The next episode is starting now."

Before anyone could protest further, the theater lights dimmed, and the next episode of Gundam 0080 began to play. It was going to happen whether they wanted it to or not.

**XXX**

**I think the one thing that takes up the most time in terms of transcribing the episode is having to go back every minute or so and checking to see whether or not the dialogue I wrote down is actually right. Given that I'm writing down the English dub, there's quite a few times I have to go back and check on it, due to the rather spotty quality it can have. Like, don't get me wrong, for the most part it's a fine dub, but with some characters it can be hard to understand what's being said. That's definitely the case with Garcia. To paraphrase SFDebris, his accent is like someone trying to talk after burning their tongue with soup. But enough of my ramblings, I hope you enjoyed the reactions to this episode where things absolutely go to shit! Let me know what you think!**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Say It Ain't So, Bernie (Part 1)

**In case you haven't noticed by now, I should mention that I wrote a whole bunch of these chapters in advance before I began to post them. So, this means that this chapter was written when I finally got some feedback and reviews on this story here. Thanks for the comments, you guys! I'll keep on trying to deliver an enjoyable product for you all, and try to factor in some suggestions I got. Trust me, I'll do my best to keep you all entertained. But enough about me, on with the story!**

**XXX**

**The now-deeply ironic theme song to Gundam 0080 plays at the top of the episode. After the events of the previous episode, the parts of the scrolling mural shown in the opening credits make much more sense, showing a battle between Zeon and Earth Federation forces as depicted in children's graffiti.**

**What comes next is a recap of what occurred in the last episode: the complete and utter devastation of Misha's Kampfer at the hands of the Gundam Alex. As was seen before, the torso and cockpit of the Kampfer were utterly shredded by the large cannons hiding in the Gundam Alex's forearms. It was hardly a fight at all, in the end.**

"Talk about devastation…" Blake murmured to herself.

"While that thing was fast, it couldn't keep up at all in face to face combat." Jaune observed.

"I tell ya, that Gundam thing is just a plain monster! I'd love to get my hands on one…" commented Torchwick.

**Meanwhile, on the Moon at Granada, Colonel Killing of the Zeon Mobile Assault Force is being driven towards a hangar bay by a subordinate.**

**"****Reporting. Operation Rubicon has failed. Gundam still in Side 6. Status of Cyclops Team unknown. Over!" we hear in a voiceover.**

**In the hangar bay, we see a gathering of Zeon soldiers and officers, the most senior among them being Major General Rugens, Colonel Killing's superior officer. They are looking at a mini-MS handling what appears to be a large warhead of some kind, and is in the middle of loading it into a missile.**

**"****No!" protests General Rugens. "I said stop, get away from there!"**

**"****But the commander ordered it!" says a Zeon technician.**

**General Rugens then turns his attention to the vehicle that just pulled up. "Killing! What's the meaning of this?!"**

**Colonel Killing steps out of his jeep. "What do you mean, sir?" he asks rather smarmily.**

**"****You're using nuclear warheads?! I never gave you permission!" the general seethes.**

"Nuclear?" Ruby asked to the room.

"It's a kind of energy," Weiss explained. "It just doesn't get brought up too much, since Dust is a more effective source of power."

"Although from the sound of it, Zeon has harnessed its power to make weapons out of it." Winter added. "It would be a rather horrible weapon too, since the radiation inherent in it would cause its effects to linger over time."

Ruby at least knew what radiation was. "Wow. So it's a lasting kinda thing?"

Winter and Weiss nodded. "Yes, it can cause things like tumor growth, hair falling out, bleeding out of skin pores, losing the ability to think properly, and many other devastating side effects." Winter further explained.

Ruby gulped at the sound of it. "I'm glad we don't have anything like that in Remnant…"

Ironwood made sure not to mention the nuclear weapons currently being researched by a few of the Atlesian military's R&D departments.

**"****Well, I never ****asked ****for your permission, sir." is Colonel Killing's response.**

**Now fuming, General Rugens yells, "Damn it! Are you planning on breaking the treaty?!"**

**Colonel Killing smugly adjusts his glasses. "Are you aware that Side 6 is not a signing member of the Antarctic Treaty?"**

**"****That isn't the point, Killing!"**

**Unabated by the general's complaints, Killing continues on with "Furthermore, if I'm not mistaken, my actions are outside of your jurisdiction."**

**General Rugens begins to say "I am the chief commander and—" right before he's shot in the chest by Colonel Killing holding his pistol. He falls face first to the floor, dead from a bleeding wound clean through his heart.**

**"****Commander!" one Zeon soldier screams in shock.**

**The Zeon soldiers who were standing alongside Major General Rugens also draw their sidearms and prepare to kill Colonel Killing for this act of treason. However, before they can train their sights onto the traitorous colonel, the colonel's own men kill Rugens' guards with rather messy shots to the head.**

Ironwood's cybernetic fist slammed against his chair's armrest, causing it to splinter and crack. "Inexcusable…" he seethed.

"These Zeon are detestable!" Winter declared. It would be hard to find anyone who would disagree.

"I guess Killing's name is pretty accurate, eh?" Yang said, noticing the name pun. Nobody else cared to comment on that one.

"I suppose this series couldn't always be subtle…" noted Blake.

**The camera pans up from General Rugens' unmoving corpse up to Colonel Killing, who is standing over the corpse with a cold-blooded expression on his face. "Continue the loading. As of this moment, I am in command of Granada." he orders.**

**Elsewhere, on Side 6/Riah's Libot colony, Christina is being briefed by Professor Lumunba about the current situation.**

**"****The police? Here?" she asks, surprised.**

**"****They said they wanted to hear it directly from you." explains the professor.**

**"****I see," says Chris, "Where are they?"**

**"****They're next to the Zeon mobile suit." answers Professor Lumunba. "They demanded that you meet them there. I'm not sure why."**

**Outside, some mini-MS are covering up the Gundam Alex with a tarp, given that it's still a classified project that not very many people should be seeing. Not too far away is the remains of the Kampfer, which we can now see to be as being completely torn to pieces. Scorch marks and bullet holes have left plenty of marks all over the body of the Kampfer. Also seen is the cockpit chair, removed from the mobile suit and now sitting on the ground. The fact that it's covered in blood and riddled with bullet holes leaves little to the imagination of what happened to Misha.**

"Eugh…" Nora groaned at the sight.

"I'd have to be the guy who cleaned all this up." said Jaune. He was looking a little green just thinking about it.

"You said it." Pyrrah agreed, equally disgusted and horrified.

"They probably had to take his body out with buckets." Neo quipped. She then mimed scooping up something in a container, and then dumping it out. Based on the smile on her face, she thought it was funny. Based on the looks on everyone else's faces (excluding Roman), they didn't.

**Christina walks up to a group of Libot colony detectives, who were talking near the hulk of the Kampfer's destroyed body. Their faces twist into grimaces as they see her walk towards them in her uniform.**

**"****So, a cute girl like you is the pilot of that mobile suit, huh?" the oldest detective asks. The then flashes his badge. "I'm the head detective on this case."**

**Chris nods. "Lieutenant Mackenzie, sir."**

**"****So you were the one who brought this thing down, eh?" the head detective then asks.**

**Chris nods again. "Yes sir."**

**The head detective gets an odd, vaguely smug look on his face. "Two surviving Zeon soldiers fled this area. We need to find them. We're wondering if you can recall anything that might help us, Ms. Mackenzie."**

**"****No. Nothing at all, sir." replies Chris.**

**"****Anything at all would be helpful now." cajoles the head detective.**

**"****I'm sorry sir, I don't recall." Christina firmly states.**

"Ah, the classic defense. Got me off in court a few times using that." Roman reminisced.

Ruby leaned over to Yang. "Are our courts really that bad?"

Yang gave Roman a nasty look. "Clearly."

**The detective sighs. "Well, you see, we have information suggesting that there was inside help on this attack. What do you think, ****lieutenant****?"**

**Christina furrows her brows slightly at the insinuation. "I'm afraid I have no comment, sir."**

**"****This is getting us nowhere…" a younger detective complains in the background.**

**"****Is that all, sir?" Chris asks the head detective.**

**"****No, it isn't!" he suddenly barks. "If they move again, more innocent people may die!"**

**Christina can only glare at the detective. Clearly she isn't liking what this investigation is starting to suggest about her and how she does her job.**

**"****It's strange, don't you think?" the detective continues. "How the Zeon began to attack a neutral colony? Coincidentally, just after ****you people ****showed up! Amazing! Why do you suppose that is?"**

**"****I don't know, sir." Chris says, this time with her voice having a bit of an edge to it.**

**"****Oh, you know the answer, Lieutenant Mackenzie." insinuates the head detective. "You just won't say it."**

"She's in a hard position." Ren observed. "Either she comes clean and gets the police off her back, or she breaks military doctrine."

"It also doesn't help that none of this should've happened in the first place. Neutral ground and all that." added Jaune.

"It's hard to place blame completely on someone here." Pyrrha said. "Do you either blame the attackers in the first place, or the people who defended the place just as recklessly? Being neutral between these larger powers must be very hard. I only wish that people wouldn't have to be caught up in it in the first place."

**Chris continues to glare at the head detective while he gets closer to her, practically right in her face.**

**"****The Federal Forces have been secretly developing mobile suits in a neutral colony! The public is just told that they're stationed here! Right?! That's why the Zeon came! Isn't that correct!" the detective seethes at Christina. The other detectives can't help but watch on with a bit of disbelief at it all.**

"Just as I said." Pyrrha commented.

**"****No comment, sir!" Christina glares.**

**"****246 people dead, 572 people wounded! That's just yesterday's casualties… I don't want that amount of people getting hurt or killed again, Ms. Mackenzie!" the detective says, before walking off back towards the Kampfer.**

**"****Listen, detective," Christina then says, this time a bit more diplomatically. "If we didn't fight, there would be even more people killed! It couldn't be helped…"**

**The head detective looks back over at Chris, who has her first curled up and trembling in frustration as she looks at the ground. "I know what you're trying to say, but nobody should ever have to die because 'it couldn't be helped', if I had it my way… These aren't just numbers." he says, before him and his group of investigators walk away completely. Christina is left starting at the ground, frustrated at how things have turned out. She can't help but feel that the man had a point with his accusations.**

"Ugh, all of this moral ambiguity is making my head hurt…" Nora complained.

"There really is no simple way to parse it." Ren agreed. "Both sides are in the wrong, to varying degrees."

"Yeah, but Chris only fought the big blue one at the base!" chipped in Ruby. "She wasn't involved in the fighting in the city."

"Doesn't matter, Red." said Roman, snuffing out his cigar and propping his feet up on the seat in front of him. "Sometimes a uniform is enough to put a target on someone."

"If they're someone like you, maybe." Winter spat.

Roman shrugged. "Whether or not you agree with me personally, you know my point still stands."

**Elsewhere in the colony, Al is rather determinedly getting a takeout order from a burger place, running down the street with his sack of hamburgers. On his way to wherever he's going, he suddenly passes by a building that was reduced in the Kampfer's attack the previous day. A small crowd of both onlookers and rescuers are gathered around the former entrance to the building. They can't help but comment on the destruction they see before them."**

**"****This is horrible!"**

**"****I can't believe it!"**

**"****I heard some surviving ****Zekes ****got into the city…"**

**"****If I find them, I'll kill them!"**

**"****They didn't have to fight in the colony! What were the Feds thinking?!"**

**Al pauses along his path to take a look at the rescue in progress. From the looks of it, the rescue personnel are pulling someone out of the rubble.**

**"****It's a kid!" one onlooker shouts.**

**"****Oh no!" another one cries.**

**It's the corpse of a blonde child, completely battered and covered in blood.**

Nora grabbed Ren's arm with a crushing grip. Her breathing picked up, until she was hyperventilating after a minute or so. Seeing the corpse on screen started giving her some nasty flashbacks to Kuroyuri. "I-I-I…" she moaned.

"Nora!" Jaune cried. He and Pyrrha leapt over to their teammates' side, while everyone else short of Roman and Neo looked on in concern. The video on the screen paused, as if the ones running the theater were giving them room to assist Nora.

Ren placed a reassuring hand on top of Nora's and let his Semblance do his work. He gestured for Jaune and Pyrrha to keep some distance as his ability began to calm down Nora. It was if her body became grayscale, and her breathing slowly began to return to normal as the grip on Ren's arm slackened.

"It's okay, everyone. I can handle this from here." Ren explained, a weary tone in his voice. "She… well, she has a bad reaction to seeing things like this. Bad experiences."

"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, we can always help more if you want it. Right, everyone?" said Jaune, looking over at Team RWBY for assistance. The all-girl team gave a chorus of yeahs and yeses, in addition to all of them nodding their heads.

"Thank you for the offer, but my Semblance will take over from here. Just leave it be for a few minutes." nodded Ren, thankful for the offer of help.

Sure enough, a minute later Nora leaned her head against Ren's shoulder, her breathing normal. If anything, it just seemed like she was tired from the sheer state of how much she worked herself up. The color returned to her form as Ren disengaged his Semblance on her.

"Just let her rest a while, and she'll be fine." instructed Ren in a reassuring voice. He made sure to adjust Nora's head so that it was comfortable against his shoulder.

Jaune and Pyrrha quietly returned to their seats, both taking care not to disturb Nora's rest. As soon as they reached their seats, the episode began to play again. It seemed like the forces at work were satisfied that everything was under control at the moment. At least enough to continue the show.

**From the way the body is limp, it's clear that the child has been dead for some time now. Al looks on in horror, dropping his takeout order in shock and disgust. He's trembling at seeing the gravity of the situation. Then, realizing that he dropped his order, he picks up his bag and runs away even faster than before from the ghastly sight.**

**At the place where Bernie's Zaku II originally crashed in episode 1, Bernie himself is packing up his things into a nondescript luggage bag. He also has a tripwire covered in soda cans set up as a makeshift alarm system set up around himself. He's a wanted man now, and for good reason. Nearby is a grave marker underneath which lays the corpse of Steiner Hardy. Bernie can't help but reflect upon what happened the other day in his mind as he looks at the informal grave.**

**"****Bernie…" Steiner groans in pain. "Did we… the Gundam… did we get it?"**

**Steiner visibly struggles to look up at Bernie, sweat pooling on his forehead. Bernie nervously considers what to say to his dying leader.**

**"****Uh, um, sir… it's… Misha destroyed it." Bernie finally settles on. This can't be any further from the truth, as the Gundam Alex is within fill view, relatively unharmed, as the shot pans out. "C'mon, we've gotta try to get you out of here!"**

**Steiner picks up his head more to look Bernie in the eyes. "Bernie… you're a terrible liar."**

**At that, Steiner finally succumbs to his wounds and goes limp in Bernie's arms. Bernie endeavors in vain to shake his dead commander to wake him up.**

**"****Captain! Captain!" Bernie calls out.**

"Bernie said the right thing, even if Steiner thought otherwise…" Ironwood uttered. "He at least tried to respect his leader in his last moments."

"Even if it was all pointless…" Winter added.

"At least Bernie gave him a burial." said Ruby. "He'll be someone to carry on a memory of Steiner. He isn't truly dead that way."

Weiss nodded along to what her partner was saying. "That's a mature way of looking at it, Ruby."

"Thanks!" Ruby smiled lightly. Although, that experience did come from a place of loss herself. The grave of Summer Rose is what taught her that lesson in the first place.

**Back in the present time, Bernie can only mutter "Captain…" at the painful memory.**

**Another flashback occurs, this time with Bernie talking to the Zeon intelligence agent that Garcia and Steiner met earlier, Charlie, at the bar that he owns. "Hardy is… I can't believe Steiner's dead…" the bartender says to himself. Then, looking at Bernie, he adds, "What about Misha?"**

**"****Dead." flatly states Bernie.**

**"****How about the young fellow with the black hair?" Charlie then asks, obviously referring to Garcia.**

**Charlie sighs, "I see…" Then, he tells Bernie, "Use that passport, son, and escape now. Immediately!"**

**"****I thought I would wait a little for the head to die down first…" Bernie suggests.**

**"****No, no! You have to leave right away!" Charlie cries.**

**"****I thought it would be safer to wait a while." repeats Bernie, confused.**

**"****I know, but…" Charlie trails off.**

**Bernie asks, "But what?"**

**Charlie doesn't immediately answer, instead folding his arms behind his back and walking forward a bit. "Now listen carefully. If the Gundam isn't destroyed by Christmas night, an entire fleet from Granada will come here, straight to this colony. They're going to destroy this whole place with nuclear missiles!"**

**Bernie is taken aback by this news. "But, no sir! They wouldn't do that!"**

"They absolutely would." Blake bluntly stated. "Well, Killing would anyway."

"I think Zeon would regardless. We've seen how ruthless they can be." posited Jaune.

Blake hummed in agreement. "Yeah, that's true."

**"****God help us…" Charlie mutters, before grabbing Bernie by the shoulders. "You have to get out of here, boy! While you have the chance!"**

**"****And you sir? What about you?" inquires Bernie.**

**Charlie lets go of Bernie's shoulders and closes his eyes. "I'm an old man, son. And you see, I've lived my whole life in this colony…"**

"And he'll die in it." Blake finished the sentence for him.

"That sucks, don't you think?" Yang asked her partner.

"It's his choice. And like he said, he's old. He must feel like he lived a long life already." was Blake's reasoning.

"At least he's got the choice of where he's dying, I guess." Yang shrugged.

**In the present, Bernie understands what Charlie was intending to say with that statement. He lived his whole life in Side 6, and he was going to die there too. That much as understood. It didn't make the situation feel any better overall, however.**

**Suddenly, Bernie's tripwire alarm goes off, with cans rattling wildly. Bernie immediately gets to his feet and draws his pistol, hiding behind a tree. However, it isn't an enemy that's approaching.**

**"****Bernie, it's me! Al! Hey!" the boy's voice calls out in the forest as he comes out from the trees.**

**Bernie breathes a sigh of relief and drops his pistol. There's no need to keep his guard up around Al. Now they they're together, Bernie eagerly digs into the takeout bag that Al brought him. "You were careful to watch your back?" Bernie asks. Al nods and hums in reply.**

**"****Are the police looking for me?" then asks Bernie. Again, Al gives a nonverbal reply, shaking his head. "I see… Let's eat." says Bernie, sitting down in front of his burgers. Al follows suit.**

**Al is sitting with his head bunched up to his knees, an upset and sullen look on his face. Bernie takes notice of this. "What's the matter?" he asks. Al doesn't say anything, instead just looking off into the distance. Bernie doesn't push it, and waits for Al to answer on his own time while he eats his burger.**

**"****It seems like people die really easily, don't they?" Al finally says, breaking the silence.**

"They sure do!" Neo's Scroll said for her.

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" Yang smugly taunted at Neo.

Neo silently scowled at Yang. She furiously typed something into her Scroll, deleted it, and then typed in something completely different.

"You got lucky, bitch. Try me again sometime soon, and maybe someone won't bail your ass out then." was what Neo typed out to be said.

"Oh what? Did the little ice cream girl get melted from how hot that burn was?" Yang shot at Neo.

Neo's lips turned into a nasty snarl. She tried to get out of her seat to fight Yang, but she was being held in place by an invisible force.

"Why can none of you learn this lesson? No. FIGHTING." the mysterious voice of the collective unconsciousness said. "Next time, the punishment will be more severe."

Both Yang and Neo gulped with nervousness. At that, the both of them settled back in their seats to watch the show. They weren't quite ready to challenge the mysterious voice's powers just yet.

**"****Are you at that again?!" Bernie snaps. "Stop thinking about it!"**

**"****But—" Al starts.**

**"****People die just because they get unlucky, okay?! You can be a captain or a nobody! When your luck runs out, you die!" shouts Bernie. At this point, it sounds like Bernie is trying to convince himself of this more than anything. "That's how war is, understand?! Here!"**

"He's not wrong, really." Roman said. "Luck is a real bitch sometimes."

**Bernie shoves a burger at Al, but Al only glares at Bernie. Seeing that Al isn't taking the bait to end the conversation, Bernie grunts and opens up the burger's wrapper for him. "Eat already!"**

**The meal continues with Al taking a bite of his burger. However, Bernie puts down his to start talking. "Al, I have to get out of here." begins Bernie. "I have to leave this colony today."**

**"****What'd you say?" Al asks in surprise, his mouth full. He swallows before speaking again. "You're running away?!"**

**"****Yes…" Bernie mutters.**

**"****But why?!" Al confusedly asks. "What about the Feddie mobile suit, Bernie? You're just giving up?!"**

**"****I understand how you feel, but sometimes it's better to get out than try to, uh…" is Bernie's non-answer. Even he feels unsure about what he's doing.**

**"****We can still do it!" Al shouts, leaning in towards Bernie. "What about everyone who died because of this?!"**

"It's hard to cut losses sometimes." Ironwood admitted. "But when the odds are stacked against you like that, it's understandable to want to retreat."

"Even if your friends died for nothing?" Ruby asked.

Ironwood gave a sad, slow nod. "Even if they died. It doesn't make it hurt any less, but that's what it is."

**"****Listen to me, will ya? In three days, if the Gundam isn't destroyed by Christmas night, then a fleet will come in from Granada." explains a distinctly unhappy Bernie. He leans his head on his knee and wraps his arms around his leg. "They're going to nuke the entire colony, do you have any idea what that means for all of you?" he then says, his voice audibly cracking.**

**"****Ah, uh…" Al verbalizes, trying to take that news all in. Instead, Bernie continues his emotionally compromised rant.**

**"****It means that this colony is going to be destroyed, alright?! There's nothing we can do! You have to leave Al, you and your mom have to get off this colony right away!"**

**"****No way! It's alright, we just have to destroy it by Christmas!" Al declares, his confidence coming back.**

"How does he even still have confidence even after everything just happened?' Weiss asked, incredulous at Al's words.

"Never underestimate optimism!" Ruby beamed at her.

"Optimism is nice and all, but there's absolutely no way to win in this situation at all!" Weiss protested.

"Naaaah, I'm sure they'll do something about it." said Ruby, confident in her own words.

Weiss crossed her arms. "And how do you know that?"

"We've got another episode left." Ruby simply stated.

"…Okay, you've got me there…" Weiss admitted. Yang and Blake couldn't help but snicker slightly at the heiress' expense.

**"****I'm not doing that, you idiot!" Bernie screams at Al.**

**"****You can do it, Bernie! I know you can!" pushes Al.**

**"****No, there's absolutely no way I can beat that new monster!" Bernie insists.**

**Al stands up and talks down to Bernie. "Yeah, it's new, but it's just a little faster! If we fix the Zaku, it'll work!" he explains with the confidence of naïve child.**

**"****If we fix it, then what?" is Bernie's challenge to Al's statement. "Are you gonna be the pilot?"**

**"****Huh?" Al looks at Bernie, confused.**

**"****Exactly, Al!" Bernie cries, standing up beside Al. "The truth is that I've never shot down one mobile suit! So ****there****!"**

**"****Hmph!" Al pouts. "You said you needed only one more kill to be an ace!"**

**"****I did not!" shouts Bernie, putting his hands on his hips.**

**"****Did so!" shoots back Al. He steps forward towards Bernie, stepping on some of the food he had brought only moments earlier.**

"Awww, not the orange soda…" Nora lowly grumbled in her half-awake state. It was kinda weird that the spilled soda was the one thing she latched onto for this entire argument thus far.

**"****I'm a rookie, Al! A fifth wheel, got it?! I'm just over here for the ride!" hisses Bernie, before turning his back at Al and walking away.**

**"****That's a lie!" Al protests. "You're just lying because you're scared and afraid you're gonna lose!"**

**"****I'm scared, alright?!" admits Bernie. "I'd be crazy not to be! Go on, call me a coward or whatever you want!" he then says, stomping off.**

"Fear is what keeps ya alive in some situations like that." Roman observed.

"Fear also attracts Grimm, no thanks to the stuff you do." huffed Ruby in response.

Roman moved his hand like it was a balancing scale. "Meh. It's a give and take when you put it that way, Red."

**"****Bernie, get back here!" Al growls, chasing after Bernie who has gone back over to his luggage.**

**"****Shut up, will ya?!" Bernie then yells, before being enveloped by a hug from Al. Clearly he wasn't expecting that to happen.**

**"****Bernie, we both know you're good right?! You can beat 'em, I know you can!" pleads Al.**

**Bernie pauses to look down at Al for a moment, before pushing him off. He then reaches down to pull off the patch that was given to Al earlier in the series, back when he involved himself in helping Cyclops Team. "Hey!" Al protests. Wordlessly, Bernie tears the patch in half and reveals the small listening device that was hidden inside. He then makes sure to show Al what was inside.**

**"****Look, you were wired, Al. We listened to everything you said because we were afraid that you would tell someone about this. I was never your friend, it was a lie." he explains in a low tone, his voice still cracking here and there. At that, Bernie tosses away the remains of the patch and the listening bug, before cupping Al's face gently with one hand. "Al, listen. If you wanna stay alive, run. Get off this colony."**

**Al shakes his head in disbelief. "But what about everyone else? C'mon, I'm sure we can still beat the Gundam. We can do it!"**

**Bernie turns away from Al's gaze. "I've made up my mind, and I'm running."**

**A look of sadness and anger comes across Al's face. "Bernie, I hate you!" he screams, before grabbing his stuff and running away. Bernie closes his eyes in sadness for a bit, before Al comes back and throws the pilot badge that Bernie gave him at his face. Bernie catches it before it can actually hit him, however.**

**"****I'm gonna go straight to the police!" threatens Al.**

**Bernie counters, "And then they'd execute you, Al. You're an accomplice, remember that!"**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "I doubt they'd do that for a kid."

"I'm not sure, Weiss," said Winter. "He did act in full knowledge of who Cyclops Team was. Although they maybe wouldn't execute him until Al was an adult. We have no ideas what the laws are like in space."

Pyrrha audibly expressed her disgust at the idea. "Al hasn't even hit puberty yet! He wouldn't deserve that, no matter what!"

"Again, that's assuming that's what the law is in the colony they're in. It's probably not the case, at least." reassured Winter.

**Still glaring daggers at Bernie, Al leaves again, this time for real. Bernie closes his eyes with a pained expression clear on his face. His fist still clenched around the pilot's badge, he hits the tree he's leaning against out of a combination of frustration and hopelessness.**

**A short time later, Al is seen traveling through the streets of the colony's city area. It seems like everything around him is blissfully ignorant of their upcoming demise, with Christmas parade floats being inflated, holiday songs playing over speakers, and people walking around as they typically do. Al ducks inside an arcade to try and get his mind off of things.**

**Inside the arcade, Al is enveloped in the sounds and scenery of video games being played. In particular, he pays attention to one game, where a giant mech is blowing up a city. Upon seeing it, his imagination grips him in the worst way possible, and he starts to think about Libot being nuked. He sees the city being vaporized in a massive sphere of light. Residential buildings combust and get blown apart from the sheer heat and force of the explosion. His classmates at school try to flee their classroom, but they have no chance of escape. Instead, they instantly carbonize into blackened humanoid shapes from the heat before they too are caught in the blast.**

Everyone was silent upon seeing the horrors that a nuclear weapon could cause. The quietest of them all was Ironwood, considering he already knew that Atlas was researching the concept of nuclear weaponry. He knew the projected outcomes of such a potential weapon, and yet it was still an unpleasant sight to see. Even people with Aura wouldn't be able to survive such an intense blast. He tried to shove those thoughts aside and focus back on the show. If Atlas needed such a weapon to ensure the safety of the kingdom and potentially all of Remnant, so be it. He'd be willing to take all that blood upon his hands.

**Al is only pulled out of this nightmarish vision of the future by a security guard shaking his shoulder. "Hey kid, something wrong with you?" Al looks like he's about to tell the guard about what he knows, but then he hears Bernie's words about being executed as a traitor echo through his mind.**

**"****What's your name?" the guard then asks. Al, now terrified out of his mind, pulls away and runs out into the street. "Hey, come back here!" the guard calls out after him, but otherwise doesn't follow far.**

**INTERMISSION CARD**

**XXX**

**We're heading directly into the endgame of this short series now, folks. Emotions are running high, along with the stakes. Man, Colonel Killing is one hell of a bastard, wanting to nuke a neutral colony to just get rid of a Gundam. I can't feel bad about the fact that according to side materials, he killed himself the minute he heard about Gihren Zabi being dead. Sure, he should've stood trial for what he did, but I can't exactly disagree with him dying, even if it was by his own hand. People like him simply shouldn't exist. But enough about me musing on Gundam characters, and let me just say that I hope you liked this chapter.**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Say It Ain't So, Bernie (Part 2)

**Alrighty then, let's finish up this episode so we can get to the finale! Ah, it's so close that I can taste it. Well, taste it as much as possible for a video that I'm watching on my computer. So I guess I'm just seeing it, really. Broken metaphors aside, let's get this show on the road!**

**XXX**

**INTERMISSION CARD**

**The show cuts back to Christina, who's picking through the rubble of a house that got destroyed by the Kampfer the other day. She finds an empty ring box in the wreckage and picks it up. As she holds it, she's visibly trying not to cry. She stands up to compose herself, where she then sees Al walking down the empty street.**

"That talk with the detective earlier must've taken a toll on her…" noticed Pyrrha.

"Yeah, for sure," nodded Jaune. "This situation is just plain terrible for everyone involved, Christina included."

**"****Al!" she calls out to the boy. Al turns around and notices her, and the two of them decided to walk together.**

**"****What's wrong?" Chris asks, noticing Al's dejected mood. "Is something bothering you?"**

**"****No… nothing." Al lies.**

**"****Well, is there anything I can do to help?" adds Chris, not buying his excuse.**

**"****Umm…" muttered Al.**

**Moving on from the topic, Chris then said, "So, by the way, how's Bernie doing? I haven't seen him lately."**

**Al's facial expression immediately turns to a scowl as soon as Bernie's name was mentioned. "Don't know, don't care!"**

**Chris picked up on this sudden outburst out of nowhere from Al. "Huh? Alright, what's wrong?" She made sure to stop and stand in front of Al as she asked this.**

**Al looked up at Chris. "Okay, just suppose, just pretend, that you knew a space fleet was coming to destroy the entire colony! What would you do, Chris?"**

**"****Well, I think I would fight, Al." is Chris' response.**

**"****Huh?" queries Al. "You wouldn't run?"**

**"****No, I don't think that I would." simply stated Christina.**

**"****Wouldn't you be scared?" pressed on Al.**

**"****Of course I'd be scared. I can handle being scared, that isn't the hard part," explains Chris as she takes a seat on a guardrail alongside the road. "What I couldn't handle was being left alone."**

**"****Left alone?" Al questions.**

**"****Yes, if I lost my mom and dad, and you, and all my friends… if anything happened to all the people who were special to me… if they were killed and I could never see them again, I could never live with myself if I ran away and left them all here to die." Chris elaborates.**

**Al tries to make sense of what Christina just told him. "So, are you saying that it's only cowards who run away?"**

**"****No, it isn't that. If I fight, it's for my own sake. I'd fight because I'd be scared of being left alone. But, that's what ****I****would do. Another person may need to run. Everyone has to decide for themselves which choice to make. If you fight, people may die. It's a very difficult choice, because if you don't fight, people may still die. There's no right or wrong thing to do. All you can really do is your very best. And what you think is right, ends up being the best for you."**

Pyrrha nodded at Christina's advice. "I absolutely agree. She put it way better than I ever could."

"That totally does sound like something you'd say, Pyrrha." Ruby agreed.

"It's proving my point that she's basically you." Nora said to Pyrrha, sitting back up in her chair. It seemed like she was settled down enough from her previous meltdown to get back into the commentary.

Pyrrha paused, as if she was going to deny it. But, given how she felt the exact same way about fighting that Christina did, she couldn't really say that there wasn't any similarities between the two. So, she decided to concede the point to Nora, hoping that she wouldn't use that as fuel for later teasing.

**Christina looks rather dour while talking, before standing back up and returning to her previous attitude. "I'm sorry," she apologizes. "I think I gave you more answers than you needed."**

**"****Oh, that's okay!" Al says. "Thanks!"**

**At that, Al starts to run off on his own again. Christina calls out after him, "Oh, and be sure to say hi to Bernie for me if you see him!"**

**Speaking of Bernie, at the moment he is at the Libot colony's spaceport, making use of what time he has left to escape. He's getting through the lines at the spaceport as inconspicuously as possible, wearing a suit and shades to mask his identity. Finally, after a moment of waiting at the ticket counter, it's his turn to see the teller.**

**"****Is there a ship?" Bernie asks the man at the desk.**

**"****And where to?" the teller inquires.**

**"****Anywhere." Bernie bluntly requests.**

**"****Oh come on," the teller says, giving Bernie a look. "Anywhere during a war?"**

"Is there really anywhere else better to go?" Ruby asked the air.

"Not particularly," the mysterious voice said out of nowhere. "Side 6 is the only colony cluster not embroiled in war at this point in time. Many other Sides have been conquered by Zeon or are still fighting against them, while others have been completely destroyed, such as Side 4."

Ruby bristled at the thought of war on that scale. "The war is that big, huh?"

"Half of humanity died in the One Year War for a reason."

**At that moment, Bernie looks up to see an advertisement for the luxurious Francheska colony playing on a television screen above the desk, showing off a possible tropical island vacation in space to him. Thinking quick, Bernie makes that his ticket order.**

**"****Uh, Francheska. One way, please."**

**The ticket terminal prints out a boarding pass for Bernie. "That'll be 520 hites, please." says the teller at the desk.**

**Elsewhere, Al is still making his way down his neighborhood's roads, and he stops to look towards some construction noises he hears nearby. What he sees is construction equipment cleaning out the rubble that used to be his school. He tries to run through the school gates to get a closer look.**

**"****Hey kid, where do you think you're going?" a construction worker yells at him, before trying to force Al to leave.**

**"****Hey, let me go!" Al protests as he's hauled out of the school grounds. "Where is everyone? Where's Chay and Telcott?"**

**"****I don't know! Get out of here and go home!" the construction worker scolds at Al before tossing him away from the gate.**

**As the worker walks away, Al ineffectively kicks at the open air in front of him. "Idiot! Jerk!"**

**Al turns to walk away, only to hear the construction worker yell again from inside the school grounds. "Where did you two come from? Now get the Hell out!" As if by some sheer coincidence, Chay and Telcott come running out of the campus, most likely being chased away.**

**"****Oh, there they are!" Al notes to himself. "Hey, you guys!"**

"Well, that's certainly convenient." Blake noted.

"They've gotta move the story ahead somehow, Blakey." shrugged Yang.

"I know, I know," said Blake. "Still, just a bit of narrative convenience on display."

**"****Hey, it's Al!" notices Chay.**

**"****Where were you?" asks Telcott.**

**"****You didn't come to school yesterday, you missed everything!" Chay tells Al.**

**"****Yeah, it was cool!" gestured Telcott. "Yesterday, a Zeon mobile suit came and blew up the school! The whole place was blasted!"**

**Al's face looks a bit more serious now. "How's everyone?"**

**"****Everyone? What're you talking about?" Chay asks.**

**"****Everyone in school! Are they alright?" Al demands to know.**

**"****What, are you stupid?" Chay asks, looking confused at Al's sudden empathy. "That mobile suit attacked during the night."**

**"****Ah, oh…" Al vocalizes, a bit relieved.**

**"****What's with you?" Chay further inquires.**

"It's called empathy." Weiss deadpans. "It's official, there's worse kids than Al now."

"If Al can learn about war, so can they," Pyrrha cajoled. "Just give them a chance."

**Al looks down and to the side. "Well, you said 'you didn't come to school', so I thought that maybe…"**

**"****We came, didn't we, Tel?" Chay says, looking over at Telcott.**

**"****Yeah, after the attack!" Telcott replies, snickering. Chay joins him in chuckling at the destruction of their school.**

**Suddenly, Chay wraps an arm around Al and shows him something in his hand. "Hey Al, check it out. Cool, huh? Ta-da!" Chay is holding brass casings from spent ammunition.**

**"****And…" Telcott says, pulling out and displaying a spent shell casing from the Kampfer's giant shotgun from his bag.**

**"****And this is just today's haul!" Chay boasts, looking very satisfied with himself. "Oh yeah, the smell is still fresh. Wanna smell them?"**

"I'm surprised that the clean-up crews allowed them to make off with spent ordinance." Winter commented.

"Given the scale of the battle, I'm not surprised at how long the repairs are taking. Still, someone should've seen that child take that massive shotgun shell. It's massive, so I'm not sure how they missed it." was Ironwood's thoughts on the subject.

**Al visibly forces himself to smile a bit at Chay's suggestion. It's very obvious that he doesn't actually mean it, however.**

**"****C'mon, don't be so sad! I'll give you some, okay?" offers Chay, completely misunderstanding the source of Al's sadness.**

**Al now forces himself to try and give a full smile, but between the slight whimpering and his lips quavering, it very much looks like he's trying not to cry. Not that the audience could blame him, given the weight that is now on his shoulders.**

**"****Hey, what's wrong, Al?" Telcott asks.**

**Chay tries to comfort Al in his own way. "Don't cry man, it's not that big a deal!"**

**"****They're all over the place, we can get a bunch more!" reassures Telcott as well.**

**Finally, Al works up the ability to laugh, and laughs enough to where Chay and Telcott join in with his forced merriment. "That's right, laugh! It's funny, eh?" chuckles Chay.**

**Al continues to make himself laugh, and only falters when he has to quickly wipe away his eyes to keep himself from bursting into tears. He and his friends continue to laugh and laugh, even as the blasted remains of the school are shown on screen.**

Weiss gave Pyrrha a certain look upon seeing that. Pyrrha herself avoided Weiss' gaze, because she knew exactly what Weiss was going to say to her. It was kind of hard to defend a bunch of kids who coerced their friend into laughing with them over war. Especially when Al was so clearly broken up over it to the point of nearly crying. It was just plain depressing to see.

**Transitioning elsewhere, the show now focuses on the Von Helsing fleet from a few episode ago, drifting out in space. Currently, the flagship is being supplied by a smaller ship, which is unloading the nuclear missile that was seen earlier in the episode onto the larger ship. On the bridge, Captain Von Helsing is overseeing the transfer of the weapons.**

**"****Captain, we have a message from Commander Killing." a helmsman on the bridge announces.**

**"****Ja. Put him through." Von Helsing orders. He shifts his captain's chair on its large mechanical mount to move over to where the message is being received on screen.**

**"****Launch time has been determined," says Killing on the other end of the line. "We're set at zero-hundred hours on December 26****th****."**

**"****Understood." affirms Captain Von Helsing. "The missiles are being loaded now."**

**"****Good." Killing simply states.**

**Captain Von Helsing can't help but raise an eyebrow at Colonel Killing on his screen. "Commander, you are serious with moving ahead on this?"**

"Well, at least somebody is objecting to these orders. A nuclear weapon seems a bit much for a giant robot, even a powerful one like the Alex." Winter noted.

"I bet ol' Tin Man here wouldn't object, right?" Roman sneered, gesturing at Ironwood.

"I wouldn't because I would've never given that order in the first place." Ironwood coldly replied. "Unlike you, I have standards. Maybe you should develop some yourself."

Roman clicked his tongue. "I have plenty, thank you."

"And yet there's no shred of evidence of this." Ironwood shot back.

"Whatever you say, 'General'." Roman blew off, making sure to add air quotes to the word "general".

**"****Are you objecting to headquarters' decision?" Colonel Killing coldly asks.**

**Von Helsing grimaces. "No sir."**

**"****You were given this mission because of your abilities. Do you understand that, Captain Von Helsing?" is Killing's intimidating reply.**

**"****Yes sir." Captain Von Helsing complies, bowing his head down.**

**"****Very well then. Good luck." are the last words that Colonel Killing says to Captain Von Helsing before terminating the transmission.**

**Out in space, the Von Helsing fleet finishes loading up the missiles from the supply ship, and sets out to deliver a devastating payload to the unsuspecting colony of Libot.**

**On Libot itself, Al finally arrives at the police station. In spite of the serious look on his face, the officers there hardly seem to notice anything being amiss. Instead, the officers out in the front are more concerned about decorating a Christmas tree than anything else.**

**"****So, how does it look?"**

**"****Oh, I think it needs more trimming…"**

**Al thinks to himself, "I'll tell the cops everything! They'll have to believe me! I don't care if they call me an accomplice, I can't let them destroy the colony! So what if they execute me?"**

**As brave as Al's thoughts are, what happens inside the building is a completely other matter.**

**"****Yeah?" a police officer asks, clearly not taking Al seriously. "A real emergency? Well, what'd ya know! You'd better escape quick!"**

**"****It's true!" Al shouts. "I'm telling the truth!"**

**"****Oh yeah, sure you are…" the officer deadpans.**

**"****The Zeon fleet is coming here on Christmas day!" Al then shouts, now trying to grab the officer by the belt.**

**The police officer is having none of it, and starts to push Al out the door, despite Al's struggling. "Right, right. Serious stuff, very serious stuff."**

**"****You've gotta believe me!" protests Al.**

**"****Yeah, I remember you! You're the same kid who dragged us out on that wild goose chase a few days ago, now go home!" the cop scolds, hauling Al out of the police station.**

**Al pleads, "I'm telling the truth this time!"**

**"****Leave, or I'll call your parents!" threatens the cop, before leaving Al out in front of the precinct.**

**"****Everyone's gonna die!" Al yells to the uncaring air. "Idiot!"**

**Al walks down the steps of the building, before turning around and shouting at the door again. "You're gonna die! Then you'll be sorry!"**

Both Roman and Neo began to laugh. Roman let out a laugh that grew increasingly nasally and smug, while Neo had an odd raspy quality to her chuckling. "They're like the ones in Vale City!" Neo commented.

"Hey, just because the cops are useless here, doesn't mean they are normally!" Ruby complained to the thieving due.

Blake decided to hold her tongue on that one. She had plenty of experience with the White Fang to know exactly how useless Vale City's police was. She couldn't help but also recall those two useless detectives that they bumped into a few times, who were investigating Dust robberies and also tried to arrest Sun Wukong as a stowaway. Yeah, the VPD was actually quite stupid, now that she thought about it. But now was not the time to mention that, since it would only help boost Roman and Neo's egos.

**Alas, nothing comes about from this attempt on Al's part to try and save the colony. His lies to the police earlier in the series have come back to haunt him. Not that the police seemed too competent in the first place, really.**

**Back at the spaceport, Bernie is getting ready to board his space flight to Francheska. The announcer over the speakers announces that his ship will be boarding soon as Bernie makes his way into the terminal. "Attention all passengers on NTW flight 205 to Francheska, we will be begin boarding in five minutes. Please have your tickets ready."**

**Bernie tries to wait in the terminal inconspicuously, but then notices someone across the way from him, standing at the terminal's bar. From the back, it looks like Christina. They share the same color of hair, at least.**

**"****Huh? Chris…?" he whispers to himself as he floats over to the bar. However, once he gets a good look at the woman's face, he can clearly see that it isn't Christina.**

**"****Hello, sir," the bar lady greets, "Looks like you can use a drink. What can I get for you?"**

**"****Uh, whiskey. With soda." Bernie orders.**

**"****Coming right up, sir!" the lady tending bar says.**

**"****That's a good idea, I'll have a whiskey!" the woman who isn't Chris then slurs at the bar lady.**

**"****Oh miss, don't you think you've had enough?" warns the bar lady.**

**"****Oh, great! He can drink, but I can't. Why, 'cause he's cute?" the drunken redhead complains.**

**The bar lady tiredly complies and says, "One whiskey, coming up…"**

**"****Yeah, make it a double!" the drunk then says, detecting that she's won.**

Weiss grew rigid in her seat, looking rather uncomfortable at seeing some lady so obviously drunk on screen. Ruby and Winter both immediately picked up on this.

"What's the matter, Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"Uh, nothing. I'm fine!" the heiress firmly insisted. She totally wasn't thinking of her alcoholic mother. Not at all.

Winter put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "It's… complicated. Just let it go for now, okay?" she quietly asked of her sister's partner.

Ruby couldn't help but look confused at the Atlesian Specialist's sudden request. Never the less, she complied. Now wasn't really the time to try and pry into what Weiss was feeling, especially if her sister wanted to get her off the track of it. That, and the fact that they were maybe trapped in extradimensional/transcendental space. It was certainly for more of one of those reasons than the other.

**Bernie stares at an advertisement for the Francheska colony while he waits for his drink. It doesn't take long, and his whiskey and cola is served to him in a spill-proof glass.**

**"****There you go! That'll be 3 hites, 5 woots please." the lady tending the bar announces.**

**Bernie digs into his pockets for cash. He pulls out a handful of change, but sees that he also grabbed the piloting badge that he had given Al before as well. He stares a bit at it in surprise, before acting like he's counting change and handing over cash to the bar lady. "Thank you, sir." she says as she takes the handful of change.**

**Bernie doesn't touch his drink, and instead looks at the badge a bit longer before putting it back in his pocket.**

**"****The money's on the counter!" he hears the drunken redhead say, before she floats over to a nearby public phone bank. Bernie decides then to sip on his drink as he overhears the drunk talk on the phone. "Yeah, it's me! Just wanted to say that I'm takin' your advice and leavin' for Francheska! I bet you're probably glad that I'm outta your hair, eh?"**

"Hey, athlete girl!" Roman called over at Pyrrha. "Is that what you're like when you're drunk? Kinda seems like you would be like that."

Pyrrha looked the briefest bit annoyed, but tried not to lose her composure at the thief. "I wouldn't know, I'm not a fan of underage drinking."

"Really? Pussy." was Roman's simple insult.

"Shut UP, Roman!" Jaune suddenly yelled at the obnoxious man.

Roman smirked. "Really? Make me."

As soon as those words exited Roman's lips, he suddenly got hit by a burst of invisible energy. It felt like every nerve ending in his body was being set aflame, and he couldn't help but scream and cry out in sheer agony as he convulsed wildly from the pain. "YEAARRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone else looked on in a mixture of horror, shock, and some level of satisfaction as Roman was subjected to some payback for near-constantly being unbearable and trying to pick fights. After a minute or so more of the invisible pain, it seemingly stopped, and the orange-haired thief went slack in his chair.

"You were warned that there would be consequences."

It was true, the mysterious voice did say that earlier. Now it had come back to prove its point in a rather dramatic fashion. Needless to say, everyone in the theater seats as rather intimidated by the sudden fury that could come down on them at any moment if they tried to start something again.

"Wow!" Yang exclaimed. "Sure glad that isn't me!"

"If we're done with the interruptions, then the show will resume." came the mysterious voice, this time sounding even more exasperated with everyone than before.

**The woman is talking loudly enough that Bernie can't help but look over at her drunken call. "I really hope you enjoy your life with her. …No, I'm not drunk! Yeah, I had a little to drink, but I'm not drunk! …I wish I was…" The drunken redhead starts openly sobbing at this point, as Bernie looks back down at his drink.**

**He can't help but recall all the members of Cyclops Team that died on this pointless mission. He clearly recalls Garcia and Misha, and then the memory of Steiner dying in his arms the other day.**

**"****You were the one who said 'let's get married'!" the woman continues to ramble on loudly. "Everything you said was a lie! I really don't want to go over there! To Francheska! Francheska's a horrible colony!"**

Yang propped her head up against her hand and leaned against her armrest. "Well, this is just plain sad."

"Yeah, no kidding." Ruby agreed.

"This show is pretty dark." Blake also agreed.

"Honestly, this entire show has been pretty depressing," added Jaune. "Nothing remotely good has happened so far."

"Al got to meet Bernie, so that's pretty positive, I think." Pyrrha offered.

"But it's not under ideal circumstances. Even you can say as much."

Pyrrha sighed. "Yeah, I guess you can say that…"

**Over the speakers comes the announcement for Bernie's flight. "NTW flight 205, now boarding." However, Bernie doesn't move, continuing to listen on to the drunken woman's call.**

**"****You're probably gonna string her along too, right?! Just like you did to me! You don't even have the guts to tell the truth!"**

**That sentence triggers a flashback in Bernie, to earlier that day. He hears Al shouting at him, "That's a lie! Bernie, you're good right?"**

**He also remembers the other moments he and Al shared together, like when they were hanging out on the rooftop of the warehouse a few days ago. "So Bernie, can ya beat it?" Al asks in the flashback.**

**In the present, Bernie grimaces as the woman continues to talk loudly into the phone. "I said, 'Steven, I'll never be able to make this call'!"**

**Bernie now remembers what Charlie said to him at the bar earlier. "And you see, I've lived my whole life in this colony…"**

**He then remembers Christina's face, on the night where Bernie brought Al over to her house when he fell asleep. Her smile is still as warm as ever.**

**Back to the memory on the warehouse rooftop, Bernie recollects Al's sentence of "Piece of cake?" when he was asked about defeating the Gundam. He also recalls the drawings of Al's that he saw that other night, and a different instance when they were laughing together on the way back from getting pictures of the Gundam Alex.**

Out of the corner of his sight, Jaune noticed Pyrrha wiping her eyes. "You alright, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha did her best to look completely fine with a smile on her face, but the remains of a streak of tears was still evident on her face. Her empty smile dropped when she saw Jaune notice it. "No, it's just… oh gods, this is hitting me so much. Bernie really did find something to fight for here, and now I'm scared, so scared for him… I just don't want him to lose it all…"

Jaune pulled Pyrrha in an embrace, which she gladly accepted. "It's okay, it's just a show."

Sniffling, Pyrrha said, "I know, I know, but he feels so real, you know?"

"I know." Jaune simply stated, and just continued to hold Pyrrha in that embrace.

To her credit, Nora didn't say anything about that sight playing out right in front of her. A part of it was due to her still being kind of out of it from her PTSD flashback, but it was mainly due to not wanting to make a scene and hurt an emotionally-vulnerable Pyrrha. She at least understood that it would've been in incredibly bad taste to do so.

**At those memories, a sudden look of determination comes across Bernie's face in the present.**

**Meanwhile, at Al's home, he and his mom are sitting across from each other at the dinner table.**

**"****Alright, Alfred," Al's mom begins, "Before we eat, I want to talk to you a little bit about your father."**

**Al timidly asks, "You're getting a divorce?"**

**Al's mom chuckles. "No dear! Your father will be coming home!"**

"Hah! Sounds like you were wrong about them getting a divorce, Roman!" Yang rubbed in the incapacitated thief's face.

On his part, Roman just weakly raised a middle finger at Yang before turning his attention back towards the screen. He simply didn't have the strength to argue after such an immense experience of pain.

**"****When?" Al asks, his face covered in shock.**

**"****Christmas day!" his mom cheerfully quips.**

**"****For how long?" Al then asks.**

**"****Forever!" Als' mom beams. "It's true, your father and I have made up for good."**

**Al sits back in his chair, now looking more concerned than ever. He knows that the timing on all this is impossibly bad. He's finally going to get his whole family back as one, and it'll be near the day when they'll all die in atomic fire.**

**"****What's wrong?" his mom then asks him. "You aren't happy about it?**

**Al simply shakes his head.**

**"****Why not? All three of us will be back together as a family again."**

**Al finds himself completely unable to tell his mother why he looks so dire. Elsewhere on the colony, Bernie burns his ticket to Francheska, while at a public park at night.**

**In his room at the same time, Al muses on just how horrible everything is. "Dad's coming back, and he's just gonna die!" he thinks to himself. "Everybody's gonna die!"**

**A knock is heard at the door to Al's room. In comes Al's mom, holding a telephone. "Al? Telephone. It's someone named Bernie."**

**Al looks surprised at the news, before sprinting downstairs, past his rather perplexed mother, towards the phone. He picks up the receiver and says into it, "Hello, hello? Are you there? Bernie? Bernie, is that you? Bernie?"**

**"****Yeah, it's me." Bernie says into the public payphone he's using.**

**"****Bernie, I'm sorry! Sorry about what I said! Please Bernie, you've gotta help us! Will ya?" Al sputters into the phone.**

**"****Yeah." says Bernie calmly. "Of course I will."**

**"****Really?" Al expresses in surprise.**

**"****Well, I've decided not to run." explains Bernie. "I'm gonna try to go after it, and bring down the Gundam. Will you help me out?"**

**"****Yeah, of course I will!" Al joyously states. "Hey, thanks a lot, Bernie! We can do it together, I just know we can!"**

**Bernie smiles on the other end of the line. "Sure. Sure we can."**

**"****I love you, Bernie!" the blonde pilot then hears Al say. That alone nearly brings tears to his eyes. "Goofy kid…" Bernie mutters to himself.**

**The episode ends as Bernie holds onto the public payphone, with a nice view of the colony city from the park he's at. Lights sprawl out in the distance as the episode fades to the end credits.**

Once again, the lights in the theater lit back on, signaling the intermission between episodes.

"Well, I've already said it before, but man this episode is sad." Commented Yang first.

"Yeah." Jaune nodded.

"Completely agree." affirmed Pyrrha.

"For sure." agreed Blake.

"Totally." added Nora.

"Well, I'm sure that Bernie will figure something out. He has a plan now, so that's good, right?" Ruby offered up.

"I'm not sure what Bernie's old mech is supposed to do against the Gundam, Ruby," said Blake. "It seems less advanced than the one that fought it previously, that's for sure. Not to mention the lack of weaponry for it."

"He'll be FINE." Ruby insisted.

"I hope so…" Pyrrha whispered to herself.

"I'd be more concerned about the incoming fleet than the mechs," said Ironwood. "Their nuclear devices seem like a much larger threat."

Winter nodded and agreed with her superior. "Absolutely. I have my doubts that Bernie can even stop the attack by destroying the Gundam, now that the fleet has mobilized."

"It really would seem in line with this series to go ahead and destroy the colony, wouldn't it?" Blake mused.

"Nah, they won't go through with it. I doubt they'll kill Al on screen." thought Yang aloud.

"We've already seen a child—" Blake started to say, before noticing that Ren was giving her a sharp glare. She knew it would be in both hers and Nora's best interests to stop right there.

Ironwood then chimed in with, "In any case, there's only one more episode left. Let's just watch it and get it over with."

"Yeah, let's see how this ends." Jaune nodded immediately He was totally invested in this story now, as were nearly everyone else in the theater was.

Well, except for Roman. He was still burned out from the pain he got earlier. But nobody cared, as they rightfully shouldn't have.

On cue, the lights began to dim again, this time for the final time. The finale to Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, was finally at hand.

**XXX**

**Are you guys ready for the final episode? I know I sure am! It's gonna hurt all over again! I can't wait! I swear, being a fan of Universal Century Gundam stuff is like being both a masochist and a sadist. We're just here for all the emotional struggles and torment, when you get down to it. Anyway, I hope you all look forward to the beginning of the end, as we enter the final episode of Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: War in the Pocket (Part 1)

**Hey there, readers! I just wanted to give a quick apology for how slow this story has been coming along. It was my intention to get this story out quicker to you, but the way college had been going, it's been taking longer than I expected. But don't worry! I fully intend on finishing up this little experience of mine for sure, especially now that I have the time to do so. Not that it would be too hard to do, considering we're starting the final episode with this chapter. So, enough with the apologies, and let's get started with the finale of Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket!**

**XXX**

**At the crash site of Bernie's Zaku II Kai from the first episode, Bernie and Al are hard at work trying to repair the fallen mobile suit.**

**"****Al, can ya hear me?" Bernie asks through a walkie-talkie.**

**"****Loud and clear!" Al replies.**

**On the outside of the Zaku, Bernie sits next to an open maintenance panel, where a bunch of cabling is attached to a rather chunky portable device, covered in dials and switches. Bernie talks into his radio while working on the computer. "I'm turning it on now, okay?"**

**"****Okay," says Al.**

**"****Alright, any change on the monitor?"**

**"****Nothing," comes Al's voice over the speaker.**

**Bernie shifts the radio onto his shoulder and flips a few dials and switches on the large device in front of him. "How about now?"**

**"****I got something, I got something!" Al exclaims. Inside the cockpit, Al is holding his walkie-talkie up to his ear, and is looking at a flashing electrical readout on the Zaku II Kai's primary view monitor.**

** "****D-14, it keeps on blinking," Al then reports.**

**"****How about on the right-hand monitor?" asks Bernie over the line.**

"This is fairly accurate to how maintenance checks on our mechanical forces go," observed Ironwood. That statement came out a bit more strained than normal, due to him trying not to comment on the still-unsecured mobile suit.

"Turning a bunch of knobs? Seems boring to me," Nora commented.

Winter shrugged. "It's much different than what you can expect from weapon maintenance. That's what happens when you build things to universal equipment standards."

**Al looks over at the right screen. "A-15 is lit up…"**

**"****I see…" Bernie mutters to himself.**

**"****Can you fix it?" Al asks.**

**"****Of course," flatly states Bernie.**

**"****And****beat the Gundam?" Al then inquires.**

**"****Piece of cake," Bernie says, his voice still rather flat and distant. It sounds like he's more focused on fixing the Zaku II Kai than anything else.**

**Al pumps his fist. "Yes!" At that small victory, Al proudly puts on his baseball cap, which has the patch that Bernie had first given Al those episodes ago, sewn on it. Al looks determined to fix the Zaku II Kai even more than ever now.**

**At that, a title card pops up that announces the name of this episode: "War in the Pocket".**

"Oooh, title drop," Yang hummed.

Blake shrugged. "Of course the last episode would have one."

Ren cupped his chin in thought. "Shows that usually do that tend to have something really dramatic happen in the episode."

That comment made both Teams RWBY and JNPR a bit anxious. They knew this show didn't pull punches at all with the dramatic moments that happened in it.

**A bit later, both Bernie and Al are walking away from the Zaku II Kai, chatting about what they'll need to do next.**

**"****We need three things: tools, certain parts for the Zaku, and some weapons," explains Bernie. Al is marching right next to him along the path, looking rather energized. "We can buy the tools."**

**"****What about parts?" Al asks, beaming.**

**Bernie gives a small shrug. "We'll have to steal 'em."**

**Al looks a bit shocked at the suggestion, as if anything else he'd seen in the past week or two hasn't been worse than that. "What? You're gonna be a robber?"**

Roman let out a small chuckle that went unappreciated by just about everyone, short of Neo. They were none too pleased that Roman had more or less recovered from his shock treatment earlier in such a short time. If only it had lasted a little longer.

**"****There're wrecked GMs all over the colony. If I can, I'll salvage parts from them, whatever I can find," explains Bernie further.**

"Oh," Roman then said. "That's kinda disappointing."

**"****I know, it's just like a treasure hunt, right?" adds Al.**

**Bernie looks a bit concerned. "Well, we could get caught by the Feddies…"**

**"****My mind's made up!" Al states proudly.**

**"****That's well said, Al!" Bernie compliments Al, putting on his shades to look cool. "Alright then! What do you say we go get some weapons?"**

**Later on still, now Bernie and Al are driving down the freeway in Bernie's tiny red coupe car. The blonde pilot is still going over the things they'll need if they'll have a snowball's chance in Hell of actually being able to repair the Zaku II Kai to fight the Gundam Alex.**

**"****There're still two weapons trailers left. A little gift we can thank Misha for," exposits Bernie.**

**The car drives out of the tunnel they were in, and the pair inside stop at one of the cross streets near where one of the hidden weapons caches was. Unfortunately, they arrive just in time to see the tractor trailer truck full of useful weapons being hauled away by a large tow truck. A Federal Forces soldier is waving the truck along, guiding it from the nearby sidewalk.**

"Well, speak of the Younger Brother," Roman commented. "You see, that's why you always find good places for your stashes. Take note, kiddos."

Weiss turned her nose up at Roman. "As if we'd take any advice from you."

Roman shrugged. "Ah, go ahead and slap the olive branch out of my hands then. Your loss."

**"****Alright, keep it comin'!" Al and Bernie hear the soldier say not too far from them.**

**"****That's one of the trailers, Bernie!" Al cries in shock. "The Feddies are taking them!"**

**"****There's still one left back at the lot. We've gotta hurry, hold on!" declares Bernie as he makes a fast turn down the road, driving towards where the last weapon cache is.**

**At the parking lot down the road, the final hidden weapon cache is still there. Unfortunately, some EFF troops in a jeep have just arrived, looking for the truck that has the weapons in the trailer.**

**"****That trailer's been parked here for about three days," the parking lot guard says to the troops. "You're welcome to check it out… Oh right, don't damage it or anything. I'm the one who's responsible for all this."**

**"****Yeah, no problem," one of the soldiers says to the guard.**

**Unbeknownst to the EFF troops, Bernie and Al drive right past the jeep in their red car, and park inside one of the nearby open parking spaces. They make sure to look at the soldiers as they walk past them. Al in particular notices the guns that the soldiers have holstered on their belts.**

"Things are a lot scarier when you realize that you're not playing a game…" Pyrrha commented to nobody in particular.

**"****Well, the plates match the rental records…" one soldier comments, looking at the parked truck.**

**"****I'll check the parking papers," says the other soldier.**

**Bernie grimaces as he watches the two Federation soldiers walk around about fifteen feet away from him. However, Al turns to Bernie with a smile on his face.**

**"****I was just thinkin' Bernie, I've got a great idea…" Al conspiratorially whispers to Bernie.**

**Back out near the truck and trailer, one soldier walks over to the other. "Well, he was right, it's been here for the past three days."**

**"****Alright," says the other one, "let's take a look inside."**

**However, just as the two soldiers were moving towards the double doors of the trailer attached to the truck, they are stopped by a sudden thumping metal noise nearby.**

**"****Will ya get off our colony, ya lousy Feds?!" Al yells at the soldiers, who turn to see him. As it turns out, his plan was to go over to the soldiers' jeep and start whacking it with a metal pipe. It works, and the soldiers start to yell at Al for hitting their ride.**

**"****Hey kid, what'd ya think you're doing?!"**

**"****Hey, cut that out!"**

**Seeing that he has their attention, Al then smashes the jeep's front window with his pipe. "Get out!"**

Roman snapped his fingers and chuckled. "Ah, the kid trick! That's a good one, right Neo?"

Neo then used her semblance to make her look like she was a girl around Al's age, and then put on her best upset face. However, the audience continued to be unimpressed by the tales of Roman and Neo's criminal exploits.

"You guys are a tough crowd, you know that?" frowned Roman.

"You're under the belief we respect you in any way," Pyrrha flatly stated.

"Ooooooh!" Nora jeered. "Frickin' savage! That burn was as hot as Pyrrha's name!"

Pyrrha blushed at the sudden comment. She wasn't used to being cheered on for insulting someone.

**The distraction works, as the soldiers start angrily yelling over one another as they rush over to where Al and their parked jeep is. Bernie, who was crouching behind his parked car, sees the soldiers run past him and goes to make his move to steal the truck from under their noses.**

**"****Give me my dad back!" Al then yells at the soldiers in front of him.**

**"****What're you talking about?" one soldier confusedly asks.**

**Al points an angry finger at one of the troops. "It was you guys who killed my dad, you rotten creeps!"**

**"****Huh?"**

**"****It's all because you Feds built a base here!" Al shouts, before starting his fake crying routine. "Th-that battle happened to my… And my dad, he… give me back my dad…"**

**At that point, Al fully gets into his act, dropping his pipe and fully crying. The soldiers are utterly baffled and worried about this kid who is wiping away his tears in front of them. In the background, Bernie succeeds in getting inside the parked truck, and drives it away without anyone else noticing.**

Roman smirked. "Works every time."

**"****Now kid, we know how you feel, but it's not the Feds, it's all Zeon's fault. Now don't do anything crazy like that again, you understand?" the soldier Al had been pointing to explains to him, trying to calm him down.**

**As the soldiers then turn back to head over to the trailer, they see that it has completely vanished in the meantime. Both of them are shocked that this has somehow happened, all while Al continues to fake cry behind them. His plan has worked without flaw.**

**Later, back at the crash site of the Zaku II Kai, Bernie and Al unload the weapons that were stored inside of the truck's trailer. Using the crane mounted on the inside, Bernie had hauled out a giant futuristic battle axe and laid it on the forest floor already.**

**"****One heat-hawk and twelve hand grenades," observes Al. "Wow Bernie, we hit it big!"**

Ruby perked up upon seeing the heat-hawk. "Ooooh, that's a cool axe! I guess it heats up or something?"

"Yeah, judging by the name," said Jaune.

"If it's for a giant mecha, I imagine it's used to cut through armor easily," Winter observed.

Ruby nodded, thinking about the heat-hawk being used that way. "Now that's a pretty good idea…"

**Bernie puts a hand on Al's shoulder. "That's right, we did a good job, Al."**

**The two briefly admire their handiwork. They do look satisfied with the weapons they managed to steal under the EFF's noses. "Now, what do you say we ditch this trailer and get another car?" Bernie then suggests, breaking the silence.**

**Later, Bernie and Al are now inside the city area of the colony itself. They're sitting in a non-descript grey van parked in a side alley, and eating a bunch of hamburgers for lunch.**

**Al turns to Bernie. "Bernie?"**

**"****Hm?"**

**"****Just wonderin' what you're thinking about."**

**Bernie swallows the bit of hamburger he had been eating before responding. "I just don't have enough weapons."**

**"****Huh?"**

**The expression on the Zaku pilot's face is rather grim. "Without them, I'll get shot up before I even get close to the Gundam."**

Jaune frowned. "He's right. If all he has is a melee weapon for his main attack, then it won't stand up against the Gundam's main arm gun. And the grenades wouldn't do much either, considering how well it fared against the chain mines."

"What would you recommend then?" Pyrrha asked.

Shrugging, Jaune then said, "Probably a gun. Distance matters."

"Bummer that the grenades won't work…" Nora pouted, folding her arms.

**"****Can't you steal some more?" Al concernedly asks.**

**"****At this point, it's way too difficult. If only there was some way to do it…" Bernie lamented. "Wait!"**

**Noticing something, Bernie lowers his sunglasses to get a better look. It's a giant inflatable Santa Claus balloon, mounted to the top of a nearby department store. "That's it!" he exclaims.**

**"****Did ya think of a good idea, Bernie?" excitedly chirps Al.**

**"****Mm-hmm. You bet I did."**

**"****Tell me, tell me!"**

**Outside of the van now, Bernie and Al are looking at the business section of the colony's phonebook, with Bernie resting a payphone between his shoulder and neck. In particular, Bernie points at an advertisement for a party rental company that rents out giant balloons, much like the one he had seen earlier.**

"Balloons? What's he gonna do with those?" Ruby asked generally.

"A distraction, maybe?" Jaune suggested. "They're probably as big as those giant robots."

"Ooh, now that's a good idea!" agreed Ruby.

**"****Here we go…" Bernie mutters as he dials the number to the rental company.**

**Cut to later that night, and Bernie has just knocked out a night watchman outside of the float rental company's warehouse. Al watches from his hiding spot behind a trash can as Bernie stands over the unconscious guard, holding a club.**

Roman clapped his hands together and leaned back in his seat. The thief truly seemed to be having a great time now. "Now this is my kind of speed!"

"Urgh, why didn't getting shocked teach you anything?" Ironwood groaned.

"Seriously, you're one of the worst people to have along for this," added Winter.

"What can I say? I'm a rapscallion who just can't resist!" smirked Roman.

**Al rushes out of his hiding spot. "You didn't kill him, did ya?" **

**"****I just knocked him out," reassures Bernie.**

**At that, Bernie enters the warehouse using the keys from the guard's belt. Once inside, Bernie searches around the shelves and pallets to find what he's looking for, guided only by the shine of his flashlight. It doesn't take too long to find what he was after. There's crate after crate of giant inflatable Santa Claus balloons sitting on a pallet, just waiting to be taken. Bernie can't help but smile at his good fortune.**

**Back inside the non-descript grey van now with the stolen goods loaded up, Bernie explains his plan further to Al. "We'll set a trap by using the balloons combined with the smoke dischargers. I was thinking the forest near the Feddie base would be the best place."**

"You were right, Jaune!" complimented Nora. "Good thinking!"

Jaune scratched the back of his head, looking bashful all the while. "Well, it just seemed like a natural idea to have…"

"That intellect is why you're our leader, after all," Pyrrha said, smiling at Jaune. He couldn't help but smile back in turn.

Nora had to resist making kissing noises at the two. It would've been so easy to do too!

**"****Why is that?" Al asks.**

**Bernie responds, "There'll be no civilians to worry about if we fight over there."**

**"****Yeah, right!" agrees Al.**

**Later still, Al has now arrived back at his house. It's late at night now. All Al can do at this hour is lay flat on his back on his bed while he stares blankly at the ceiling. It's been a long day for both him and Bernie. All the while, he is still remembering the parts of the plan that Bernie had told him on the way back to his home.**

**"****Then what'll you do?"**

**"****Then, I'll draw the Gundam out and attack it by ambushing it in the forest. If I do that, I can beat 'em by just using the heat-hawk. Heh, like I said: piece of cake!"**

**Al remains silent while recalling that conversation.**

**Cut to the city area of Libot the next day, where a montage of Al and Bernie preparing for the attack is set to the series' main theme, Itsuka Sora Ni Todoite (And Reach the Sky Someday).**

**The city, still unaware of the nuclear devastation undeservedly in store for them, is still getting ready to celebrate Christmas. All the while, Al runs around and picks up tools from a hardware store to fix the Zaku II Kai with. Once that's done, him and Bernie head out to the forest near the Federal Forces base, where they set up large trip-lines connected to the smoke machines and inflatable balloon containers. Later that night, Bernie and Al then sneak over to the unguarded GM wreckage left over from the fight with the Kampfer and salvage mobile suit parts from it, just as Bernie said he would. They work through the pouring rain, welding parts back into place on the Zaku II Kai and replacing broken machinery with machinery salvaged from the abandoned GM.**

Ruby and Yang hummed along with the song. Blake and Weiss, in turn, gave the half-sisters a sidelong glance.

Yang defended herself with "C'mon, it's catchy!"

Weiss huffed. "I don't see what's so catchy about hm-hm-hmm-hmmmm, hm-hmm-hmm—wait, you've got me doing it now!"

Ruby giggled a little at Weiss' expense as the heiress' face turned to a shade of red. "You don't have to be shy, Weiss. Let's do it together!"

Weiss crossed her arms. "No, thank you," she huffed.

Ruby simply shrugged and kept on humming. She would get her partner to join along in the humming someday. It would be only a matter of time. A singer like her wouldn't be able to resist, anyway.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the audience seating, Ironwood was absolutely fuming. Just how many unguarded pieces of military hardware was this show content to have, anyway?

**The next morning, Al and Bernie run a systems check on their project, and all of the readouts read that their mobile suit has been fully repaired. Al and Bernie can't help but give each other an excited congratulatory hug in response to the good news. With the sky blue and their work finished, Bernie lifts up Al in the Zaku II Kai's hand letting him see Libot colony from a high vantage point. All in all, they are successful.**

**Later that evening, Bernie and Al are watching a Christmas parade going on in the downtown section of Libot's city area from their van. However, in spite of the festive and cheerful mood around them, Al can't help but feel glum about things.**

**"****Hey, c'mon, don't look so sad. Your dad's coming home tomorrow, remember?" says Bernie, trying to cheer his partner in crime up.**

**"****Yeah, I remember," replies Al. He's hunched up on his knees and facing away from Bernie. "But I wanna help you fight… You positively sure that there's nothing else I can do to help?"**

"Al, I know your heart's in the right place, but… what can you even do?" Pyrrha asked the screen.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," Weiss answered for her.

**"****I can handle the fighting part myself, thanks," comments Bernie. He then reaches over to the glove compartment and pulls out a package and a data disk. "But I've a job for you to do tomorrow. I need you to deliver this for me."**

**Al looks over the bundle in Bernie's outstretched hand. "Deliver it where, Bernie?"**

**"****I left instructions on the disk. If the plan fails… If I die…" Bernie starts, before trailing off.**

**Al is confused by that last mentioning of failure. "Huh?"**

**"****You just play the disk and then do what it tells you to do, okay?" is Bernie's instructions. "This is very important, Al. I'm counting on you."**

**"****You mean you really might get killed?" Al asks, this time sounding more serious than before.**

**Bernie cocks his head and gives a small smile. "It's just in case, Al. You never know. But, I wouldn't worry about it. You probably won't even need to use it."**

"He'll probably have to use it," Blake deadpanned. That got her an elbow to the arm from Yang.

"C'mon, why did you have to go ahead and jinx it?" the blonde brawler complained.

Blake shrugged. "I mean, that's pretty much how it always goes."

"She does have a point," added Ren.

"I don't want it to happen though…" Yang grumbled.

**A cut to the parade passing by, without a care in the world. Only those two in the van know and care about their world possibly ending the very next day.**

**"****Remember, tomorrow at 2:00, I'm going to destroy the Gundam, and then this colony will be saved," Bernie concludes his talk with.**

**Not long afterward, Bernie is dropping Al off at his home.**

**"****Merry Christmas to you, Al."**

**"****And to you too, Bernie."**

**"****Goodnight."**

**Al looks rather unsure of himself as he walks towards the driver-side door a bit closer. He frowns and shakes his head. "Bernie, you won't die, right? You'll win, I know you will!"**

"Stop it already, show!" Yang commanded to the screen. "You're jinxing it!"

"They're being pretty unsubtle about it, aren't they?" Ren asked to himself.

**At that, Bernie puts his hand gently on Al's head and gives it a light tussle. "Of course I will, kid. Don't you worry about a thing! Get goin', 'kay?"**

**Al hesitantly walks a few steps towards his house before turning around. "Goodnight, Bernie," he says, before running away at full speed.**

**Bernie looks slightly melancholic at his and Al's parting, before turning his attention over to Christina's house next door. Inside, Chris and her family are happily opening up gifts and enjoying each other's company, all the while Bernie remains a stranger to their company. After sparing a few more seconds to look, Bernie drives away in the van, and departs Al and Chris' street for the last time.**

**Inside Alfred's house, Al is near the Christmas tree in his room, which is fully decorated and lit up with a variety of tinsel, baubles, and lights. Although, given how hard that Al is starting to silently beg to a higher power at the foot of his bed, one would think that he was kneeling before a holy altar rather than being near a Yuletide tradition.**

**"****God, please give me this one thing. I don't even need anything from Santa! I swear, I'll be good forever! I won't pull pranks on anyone anymore, I mean it! I promise! And I won't torture or kill frogs for fun anymore, and I won't put snakes or lizards in any of the girl's desks, so please! You've gotta do this one thing for me! Protect Bernie! Please, protect, this colony, don't let anyone here die, don't let anyone die… Amen."**

"…So yeah, the blonde kid is fucking dead for sure," Roman casually commented.

**INTERMISSION CARD**

**XXX**

**So yeah, things aren't going to turn out well. But you already knew that, didn't you? The show is certainly making it as clear as possible. Also, a fun drinking game for you, take a shot every time you see the words "Al" and "asks" together. You'll get hammered in no time. Seriously though, the kid parrots a lot of words. You really notice it when you have to transcribe the episodes. But, other than that stuff, I hope you liked this chapter! Now all that's left is the very finale!**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'll be seeing you at the finale of Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: War in the Pocket (Part 2)

**Are you guys ready for all the pain and suffering that comes with the finale? I sure am! And I bet a lot of you who are familiar with Gundam are too. So, let's keep this introduction short, and jump right into the finale of Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket!**

**XXX**

Winter gave Roman a solid thwack on the shoulder.

"Hey! What was that for, huh?" complained the thief.

"Don't speak so certainly on things you don't know," chided Winter.

"No violence allowed… but I'll make an exception once," the mysterious voice immediately chimed in.

Roman crossed his arms. "What a load of shit…"

**INTERMISSION CARD**

**It's now daytime in the colony. Out near the forest, Bernie zips up his flight jacket, looking up determinedly at the sky. He's going to beat that Gundam, or die trying. Without a word, he climbs into his Zaku II Kai, ready to start the upcoming battle.**

**Elsewhere in Libot, Al and his mother are waiting at the spaceport terminal, expecting Al's father to arrive soon. The announcement of arrivals sounds over the PA system as Al looks up at the flight schedule screen.**

**"****It's almost time for him to go… Good luck, Bernie…" Al thinks to himself.**

**Off-screen, a voice calls out, "Al! Son!"**

**It's Alfred's father, coming floating out of the terminal passageway. "Sorry I was late, there was nothing I can do!"**

"Yay, now they can die together! Gods damn it!" Yang fake-cheered, slamming a fist into her chair's arm in frustration.

**Back out to the forest, Bernie settles into the cockpit of his Zaku II Kai. He rests his hands on the flight sticks that control the mobile suit, all the while he grimaces. He knows the fight ahead is going to be tough.**

**Back to Al, he's riding on a funicular back down from the spaceport. All the while, he listens about the story which his father experiences firsthand on the way back to Libot. "There was a battle near our ship, it was terrible!"**

**"****Oh?" Al's mom expresses.**

**Al's dad continues with, "A Zeon ship was destroyed right outside of my window, it was very dangerous. And listen to this, one of the Zeon ships that surrendered to the Feds was apparently carrying nuclear missiles!"**

"Wait, what?!" Ruby cried, in a mix of dawning horror and surprise.

"Bernie doesn't have to fight anymore…" Pyrrha said under her breath, her surprise tinged with a hidden fear.

Blake had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Based on what she knew about tropes, she had a good idea on how all of this was going to play out. It would be too convenient for things to just stop here, wouldn't it?

**"****Oh dear! They were going to use nuclear weapons?" Al's mom utters.**

**Al himself looks utterly surprised at the news, looking up at his father in shock.**

**"****Well, that's what they said, and as far as the Feds can figure out, they were headed for Riah."**

**The animation starts to reflect Al's horrified mental state as he listens to the news from his father. The scenery around him fades to black, leaving only the back of his head in view. His colors fade to cold, icy blue shades.**

**"****But, what I didn't understand is why they would attack neutral colonies…" finishes Al's father. "Al, what's wrong?"**

**The funicular arrives at a stop halfway down to the city portion of Libot.**

**"****Al, this isn't our stop. Where are you going?" Al's mom asks as he sprints out of the stopped funicular.**

**Al has pieced it all together from that story. The Von Helsing Fleet, which had been carrying the nuclear weapons, was no longer a threat to the Riah Republic, Libot colony specifically. That means that nobody had to fight anymore… and Bernie at that very moment is heading towards a highly dangerous, now pointless battle. Alfred had to stop Bernie from getting killed, no matter what! There was no need to fight anymore!**

"Run, Al! Run!" Ruby shouted at the screen. Her arms flailed as she gestured at the screen to try to have Al run faster.

"He has to make it! Right, Ren?" Nora asked her partner, concerned.

Ren frowned. "I don't think he'll make it in time on foot…"

**Bernie's Zaku II Kai is now heading into battle, using its thrusters to slide over the colony's massive windows that allowed sunlight to get in. In his hands is the heat hawk, ready for battle as the score swells to dramatic heights.**

**"****He doesn't have to fight now!" Al thinks to himself as he's running. "I gotta stop him! I gotta let him know!" As Al runs across the street, he's then nearly hit by a car, who only barely swerves to avoid him. Undeterred, Al keeps on running.**

"Watch it, Al!" Weiss yelled.

"There's no time!" Yang exclaimed at Weiss. "He won't make it in time if he stops!"

**Elsewhere, the Federal Forces commander that had run the battle against the Kampfer days ago notices what's going on as the Zaku II Kai approaches closer. "What the hell?!" he exclaims.**

**Christina herself is already dressed in her pilot suit, and is running towards where her still-damaged Gundam Alex is being held in the hangar. "Zaku II approaching the base, sir. ETA is in three minutes," one Federal Forces radar man reports to the commander.**

**"****What's the armament count left on the Alex?" the commander then asks another subordinate.**

**"****Just five-hundred rounds in the right arm, sir," a different EFF technician replies. He then adds, "The Riah Forces say that they're keeping out of this one!"**

"Hrmph…" Ironwood grumbled. "I understand why they don't want to work with the Federation, considering how much damage they caused before. But still, they really should be on top of this new threat."

**The commander grimaces to himself as Chris enters the cockpit of the Gundam Alex. "Lt. Mackenzie!" he orders over her comms unit, "Move out!"**

**Chris has a determined look in her eyes. "Roger!"**

**The Gundam's eyes flash and glow as the mechanical titan prepares to launch. At the same time in the forest, the timed smoke machines that Bernie and Al had placed earlier finally go off, coating the entire area with a dense layer of bright pink smoke.**

"Hey, that's a lot like the smoke of my grenades!" noticed Nora. Her moment of elation at the coincidence turned to a frown shortly afterwards. She didn't want her favorite color associated with the bad things that were probably about to happen.

**Al is closer to the forest now, and can see the massive cloud of pink smoke from the elevated road that he's on. However, he's still far off from where the battle is about to commence. The Zaku II Kai's monoeye scans the area just as the Gundam Alex lands to face it off.**

**"****There it is!" Bernie says to himself.**

**Christina wastes no time in opening fire with the remaining ammunition in her right arm gun. Bernie dodges the bullet fire as he continues to pilot his mobile suit along the colony's window, leading the Gundam Alex to where he can fight it on even ground. "Come on, aren't you gonna follow me!" he growls.**

**Behind him, the Gundam Alex only stops for a moment before hopping down onto the window to give chase. Bernie smirks at this intended development. "There you go, that's a good boy!"**

**"****Both units are headed for the foothills, sir," a technician says to the EFF commander, still observing the situation from his command room.**

**The commander himself lifts his radio handset to him mouth and barks, "Lt. Mackenzie, fall back now! You have the advantage on flat ground!"**

**"****Foothills have no civilians," Chris calmly says over her comms.**

**"****What?!" yells her commander.**

**"****I'm headed for the forest!" Chris then declares, activating her boosters to fly after the Zaku II Kai.**

**"****Lieutenant, fall back!" the commander orders, but it falls on deaf ears.**

"Well, at least she's doing the right thing and not getting more people hurt this way…" Ruby commented, trying to find a positive in the dreaded battle to come.

"She's still disobeying orders," noted Winter. "Maybe the commander sees something she doesn't."

"You don't know that!" Ruby shouted, getting out of her chair to confront Winter.

Weiss grabbed at the hem of her partner's pajama top. "Come on, don't do this now, Ruby. It's not my sister's fault," she firmly stated.

Ruby gave what Weiss said a moment of consideration before sitting back down. But her complying with her partner's logic didn't make her any less upset.

**Meanwhile, Al finally reaches a point where he can hop off the elevated roadside, and jumps down into the smoke-filled forest. The Gundam Alex also arrives in the forest, and Chris looks around for the Zaku II Kai. Spotting it, she inadvertently steps around one of the tripwired traps that Bernie and Al had set up, and begins to open fire on the distant silhouette of Bernie's mobile suit.**

**All the while, Al is wandering around the forest, desperately looking around as the sound of gunfire rings in the distance. "Bernie!" he cries out, before running deeper into the shrouded foliage.**

**The Zaku II Kai actives its heat hawk while Bernie himself gets his thumb ready over a remote detonator he's holding, waiting for the right moment to active at his trap.**

**Al cries out "Bernie!" again as he runs even closer to the ambush. However, his class go unheard as Bernie instead pushes the button on his detonator.**

**Al trips and falls as one of the traps blows open, revealing the giant inflatable Santa Claus balloon that the pair had stolen not too long ago. The Gundam Alex spins around and opens fire at the decoy, ripping the balloon to shreds almost instantly. All Al can do is stay close to the ground as large bullets fly only about a foot over his head.**

The arms of Pyrrha's chair groaned under the stress of the sudden death grip the champion fighter suddenly put them in. Beads of sweat started to form on her forehead from the sheer stress of seeing Al only barely escape death. Her heart pounded in her chest like a jackhammer working on concrete. This was honestly the most stressful thing she had seen in a while.

**"****Bernie! Get away!" Al shouts out, but is unheard over the sound of gunfire.**

**Another cardboard box explodes, this time revealing a snowman balloon that similarly gets ruined by sustained firing. The smoke that had been obscuring the area drifts away on the wind, letting Christina see what she had really been shooting at.**

**"****What the- Huh?!" Chris starts to ask herself, but is cut off by Bernie's Zaku II Kai coming at her with the heat hawk.**

**The Gundam Alex opens fire on the Zaku II Kai once more as it raises its arm for a chopping blow with the heat hawk. A few of the bullets collide with the center mass of Bernie's mobile suit and penetrate the armor, letting the bullets into the cockpit. A bullet smashes into the back wall of the cockpit, only inches away from Bernie's head. Shrapnel coming off of the ruined machinery embeds itself into the side of Bernie's face as he screams out in pain.**

**At the same time, the heat hawk manages to chop the Gundam Alex's right arm completely in half lengthwise, disabling its gun. The Federation mobile suit then reels back from the blow, allowing the Zaku II Kai's heat hawk to get in another blow, this time slashing the Gundam Alex across the center of its torso. Christina also cries out in agony as the shrapnel from the blow bloodily shoots itself into the right side of her body.**

"BERNIE!" Ruby screeched, grabbing onto Weiss for comfort. Unbeknownst to her, Weiss had also latched onto Ruby at the same time, and for much of the same reason.

"Don't kill him!" Pyrrha pleaded with the screen.

At the same time, Jaune shouted out "Christina, no!"

Nora, meanwhile, had grabbed Ren's hand in a crushing grip. He was trying his best to deal with the sudden pain from it. Although for him, it was hard to tell if the sweat forming on his brow was from trying to repress the pain, or from the stress this fight was causing him.

"ARRGHHHH! This is such BULLSHIT! They don't need to fight!" Yang furiously cried, kicking the seat in front of her. This emotional pain sure wasn't feeling great. In fact, it was hurting enough to pop off her Semblance, causing her eyes to turn red and her hair to burn brightly with energy.

"I know…" Blake muttered, agreeing with Yang. By now, she was silently accepting what the final outcome was probably going to be.

**Both Bernie and Chris clench their teeth in suffering as they both finish reeling back from their respective wounds. The Zaku II Kai readies another strike from the heat hawk, while the Gundam Alex reaches towards its back pack to grab the handle of its beam saber.**

**Al, who can now see what's happening not too far from him, screams "Stop it! Bernie!"**

**The heat hawk and beam saber clash together and bounce off of one another as their respective energy fields are repulsed. Bernie's Zaku II Kai nearly tumbles over from the sudden clash, but then uses its thrusters to right itself and launch itself in a tackle towards the Gundam Alex. Both machines uncontrollably slide downhill as Al starts to chase after them.**

**"****Bernie!" Al shouts once more. However, he isn't paying attention to where he's running, and trips over a tree root. He accidentally joins the Gundam and Zaku in tumbling down the slope.**

**The two mobile suits careen downhill into another one of Bernie's tripwires, this time causing a large explosion. The Gundam Alex uses this opportunity to use its thrusters to fly backwards, making the Zaku II Kai stand up and chase after it on foot. However, it sustained large damage in the struggle, and now the left arm is lying on the forest floor uselessly.**

**Al picks himself up off the ground and chases after the ongoing mobile suit fight. "Bernie! Get away from here! You don't have to fight anymore!"**

**The Gundam Alex manages to stop its movement by bumping into one of the buildings at the Earth Federation Forces' "hidden" base, the running fight having taken it all the way back there. The Zaku II Kai is right behind it, pushing trees out of the way as it finds its target.**

**Bernie is panting heavily in his cockpit, blood streaming down his face. Christina is doing much the same, with the large wound on her arm strained crimson and looking ragged. Their weapons glow with the intent of battle, with the heat hawk's blade turning a bright orange hue and the beam saber emitting a bright pink blade of energy.**

"Don't do this! Don't do this!" pleaded Pyrrha. She didn't want to accept the terrible outcome that was going to happen. Under her grip, the wood of her chair's armrest was starting to crack.

Jaune tried putting a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder to calm her down, but his own stress was causing him to grip too much that he got a fistful of Pyrrha's pajama shirt more than anything.

**Al finally clears the trees of the forest, seeing exactly what is about to go down. "Oh no…" he mutters to himself as he sprints towards the two mobile suits.**

Nora buried her face in Ren's shoulder. She couldn't bear to look at what was about to happen.

**The Gundam and Zaku each prepare to strike. The Gundam Alex goes first, using its boosters to jet itself towards its enemy. Inside his cockpit, Bernie lets out an angry war cry as he lunges towards his target, the Gundam.**

**Al sprints as hard as he can. "Bernie!"**

**Time seems to slow as the Gundam and Zaku are about to hit each other. Al is fruitlessly running towards his battling friends, too late to stop it all. In one fell swoop, the heat hawk of the Zaku II Kai comes down on the head of the Gundam, decapitating it and shearing off a shoulder in the process. At the same time, the Gundam Alex impales the cockpit of the Zaku II Kai, with the beam of the saber traveling clean through all the armor and metal of the Zeon mobile suit.**

**That moment in time lingers, freezing on a moment of pure despair as Al gasps in shock. It was too late.**

**A second later, the Zaku II Kai violently explodes, the beam saber having hit vital components to Bernie's mobile suit. The explosion causes the now-destroyed Gundam to be blown backwards, and Al himself to be flung dozens of feet away before his flight is stopped by hitting a tree trunk.**

By now, both Ruby and Weiss clung to each other and tried their hardest not to cry. It wasn't working, since their cheeks were red and stained with the marks of their tears.

Pyrrha slammed her right fist down on her armrest, breaking it in two. She then stood up and briskly walked away to the corner of the theater, trying to not let the others see her tears. Jaune himself was openly weeping, but followed after his partner regardless to try and comfort her the best he could.

Ren deeply frowned and lowered his head at the sight. He then made sure to activate his semblance to try and calm down Nora again, but given how she was still clinging to his arm and not bringing her face back up to see the screen, it was taking quite a bit of effort to take effect.

"FUCKING! SHIT! FUCKING! ASS! ARRGGHHHH!" Yang shouted, kicking the seat in front of her so hard that her foot went clean through. "I HATE THIS! DAMN IT! IT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR!"

Blake started rubbing small circles on Yang's back as her blonde partner then hunched over in despair. "I know, I know… But, Al will carry on Bernie's memories, right?"

"It's just not fair…" Yang said lowly to the floor.

Ironwood and Winter observed the scene in respectful silence. Even if Bernie didn't have to die in the end, he still fought for what he believed would save the colony. There was a mutual respect among soldiers that made them understand that sacrifice. It was a small way to try and cover up the bitter truth of war. The pain of loss was still there, but there was at least some honor to it.

Roman and Neo, on the other hand, gave a small ovation to the scene. "Man, now that was a good fight! Bernie really did pull a fast one on that girl!"

"He still died though," Neo observed.

Roman shrugged. "Sure, he died a chump's death, but at least he did something fun beforehand. Not bad, my blonde pilot guy. Not too bad."

**As rescue services arrive, all Al can do is stare blankly at the now-flaming wreckage of the Zaku II Kai. Bernard Wiseman is dead, all because he fought a battle that didn't need to be fought in the end.**

**"****How's Lt. Mackenzie?" the Federation commander asks, having arrived on the scene.**

**"****Alive, sir!" an EFF soldier reports. "Just unconscious!"**

**"****What about the Zaku pilot?" the commander then asks.**

**A different soldier replies, "Nothing left, sir! A pile of hamburger!"**

"Oh, now that's just mean," Blake hissed. Now that she thought about things, all of those times that Bernie was eating burgers in the show was just foreshadowing for that line. It was a clever, albeit super mean, moment of writing on the show's part.

**As Al continues to stare blankly ahead in shock, a soldier walks up to him and kneels down. He takes his hand and tries to shake Al out of his stupor. "Hey kid, are you okay? What the heck are you doing out here, anyway?" he asks. There is no response.**

**In the corner of Al's vision, he sees an ambulance pull up next to the crashed Gundam Alex, where soldiers are trying to haul Christina out of it. Al can't help but lowly gasp and whimper in horror at the sight.**

**"****C'mon kid, you alright?" the soldier then asks.**

**Off in the distance, Professor Lumunba orders around the soldiers trying to rescue Christina. "What are you doing?! Get a stretcher, quickly!"**

**The rescuers have now hooked up a rather bloody Chris to an IV of plasma and are carefully pulling her out of the wrecked cockpit. "Come on, easy now…" one of them instructs to the other.**

**Al recoils from the sordid sight up against the tree. **

**"****Whoa now, easy kid…" the EFF soldier than says to Al, reaching out to him in an attempt to calm him down. "Hey, hey come on kid, won't you snap out of it?"**

**By now, another soldier has walked up to see Al in a rather sad state. "Medic!" he calls out. The soldier tending around and also calls out for help. "Come on, hurry!"**

**The scene fades out to black, before we focus on the media disc that Al left at home, the one that Bernie had instructed Al to take to the authorities just in case. On it is a video that Bernie had recorded earlier, addressed to Al.**

**"****Al," Bernie begins the video with. He is sitting in front of his Zaku II Kai. "Okay, listen carefully."**

**In the video, Bernie picks up and shows the camera the package that he had given Al previously. "In this package, you'll find a full-taped confession, and all of the evidence. I just want to explain just why this colony has been targeted for nuclear attack. It's important that if I die, you take this to the police. If you can get an adult to believe you, the colony can still be saved. …You're probably wondering why I just didn't take this to them myself."**

**Bernie sighs and lowers the package. "Well, you see… You have to understand, it would've been like running away. If I ducked out of fighting now, I don't think I could've ever lived with myself. It's not like I hate the Federation or anything, or that I want to avenge the captain and the others… I'm not sure how to put it. You see… I need to fight the Gundam now. Maybe it's because I'm a soldier. I really don't know the reason why."**

**The posture of Bernie straightens, and he looks directly into the camera. "Hey, Al. I'm most likely going to die. But, whatever happens, don't hate the Gundam pilot, and don't go hating the Feddie soldiers. Because they're like ****us****, you and me. They're just people simply doing what they think is right, that's all. I know that it's hard, but try not to hate them. And don't blame yourself either, okay? Please Al, this is all I ask."**

Winter nodded sagely along to what Bernie had to say. "A lot of people think that we're a kind of monolith. But really, people like us are just those who want to do the right thing. It doesn't matter if we're soldiers or Hunters. The will to do what's right is all that matters."

"Well said, Specialist Schnee," lauded Ironwood. He couldn't have said it better himself. He also made sure to pointedly ignore Roman's rather loud scoffing at what Winter just said. It wasn't worth it anymore to argue with the thief.

**Leaning on his knee, Bernie then smiles. "With any luck, if I do manage to get out of this alive and the war ends, I'll visit you. I'll come back to this colony, that's a promise."**

**Bernie flashes a thumbs-up. "See ya, kid! Well, I guess that's it. Take care, Al! By the way, say hi to Chris!"**

"Yeah, that's just real great, show…" Yang seethed. "Yeah, go ahead and twist that knife, you piece of shit!"

Bernie's final words just made Ruby and Weiss cry even harder. Droplets flowed seemingly endlessly from their faces, as if repeating one instance of crying over and over again. It was like seeing the tears of time, those tears of anguish lasted for so long.

**The deceased soldier of Zeon gives the camera a salute, before getting up and walking off-screen to turn off the recording. Those were the last recorded words of Bernard Wiseman. The screen cuts to black as the video fades to a static screen.**

By now, Jaune had managed to coax Pyrrha to sit back down with everyone else. As the blonde knight led the amazon back over to her seat, she kept on wiping tears away with her sleeves.

"How's Pyrrha holding up?" Blake ask, still rubbing Yang's back. Needless to say, everybody who mattered wasn't taking this finale very well. Still, it didn't hurt to ask.

Jaune gave a small shake of his head as he sat back down. However, Pyrrha decided to answer for her sudden outburst.

"I-I'm sorry… I just feel like… I… I don't want to watch this anymore," Pyrrha offered in explanation, between wiping away her tears. She didn't want to think about the implications this show offered. If Bernie was really like Jaune, and if she was like Chris, would that mean she may have to kill Jaune one day? Pyrrha honestly believed that she couldn't live with herself if she had to. There was so, so much she wanted to say to him before they both shuffled off the mortal coil, and the thought of her being the cause of things being left unsaid was gnawing at her like a black hole in her stomach.

Blake gave Pyrrha a nod of understanding, before focusing her attention back on Yang. Everyone in the theater, short of Roman and Neo, would need some real time to process what exactly they were feeling, to say the least.

**"****Al? Al!" Alfred's mother says as she wakes up her son. "What's wrong? You were yelling in your sleep."**

**Groggily, Al says "I… was dreaming, mom. What time is it anyway, is it late?"**

**"****It's about 8:30," his mom says, opening up his room's windows. "And it's absolutely beautiful out today, like God blessing the first day back to school!"**

**Life resumes for Alfred Izuruha. He sits at his kitchen table in silence, watching his mother make breakfast. A light breeze is coming through the open windows, and the sky is bright and shining in the morning.**

**"****Honey! I can't find a towel anywhere!" Al's dad says as he walks into the kitchen in his pajamas, his face wet from washing.**

**"****What're you doing?" Al's mom chides. "You trying to fill the kitchen up with water?"**

**Al's father grabs the bottom of Al's mother's apron and starts to dry his face with it. "Just a sec…" he mutters.**

**"****Oh, for heaven's sake!" Al's mom huffs.**

**Al watches the perfectly normal domestic scene in silence. A nearby newspaper on the table declares the date to be January 14****th**** 0080, and the headline is announcing the formal surrender of the Principality of Zeon to the Earth Federation. It has now been a few weeks since the pointless battle between the Gundam Alex and Bernie's Zaku II Kai, and now that the One Year War is officially over, it might as well have never happened, for all that it accomplished.**

"Life goes on," Ironwood commented.

"And yet it gets so heavy," added Winter.

Ironwood sighed. "It certainly never does get any easier…"

**The Izuruha family continues its breakfast peacefully, with Al's dad reading the newspaper and drinking coffee, and both Al and his mom finishing up their drinks.**

**"****Al, you better get running along. You don't want to be late!" she reminds Al.**

**"****Uh-huh…" Al mumbles.**

**As Al heads out of his front door, his mom asks from down the hall "Do you have your school bag?"**

**"****Got it!" Al replies back. He puts on his baseball cap and heads out the door. It still has the badge that Bernie gave Al all those weeks ago on it. "See ya later!"**

**"****Michiko, does our son seem quiet to you?" Al's dad asks to Al's mom. "Or do you think he's just maturing?"**

"Al will never be the same…" Pyrrha sobbed.

Roman shrugged. "I dunno, I've seen some pretty fucked up shit, and I turned out fine. I'm sure the brat'll be fine."

If looks could kill, Jaune and Pyrrha's collective glares would've not only murdered Roman, it would probably also kill a dozen alternate version of him in the local multiverse cluster.

**"****Hmm…" Al's mom utters in thought, thinking of an answer.**

**Outside, a familiar voice calls out to Alfred. "Al!"**

**Al looks over and sees Christina walking over to him. Her parents are standing out on the front porch, waiting with her luggage. Chris herself is wearing a new set of nice clothes, and her arm is still in a sling due to the injuries sustained in battle all those weeks ago.**

**"****I'm glad I caught you!" Chris says. "I was hoping to see you before I left. I've been transferred back to Earth."**

**Al is a bit dumbstruck by what Christina has just said. "Uhhh… so you're leaving?"**

**Chris nods. "Uh-huh, that's right. I wanted to be able to say goodbye in person. I'm sorry Al, I thought I was getting to stay too. I also wanted to say goodbye to Bernie too, but I won't have a chance. So, will you say goodbye to him for me? Better yet, just tell him I said hi, okay?"**

**Al visibly tries to hold back tears, before steeling himself and looking down at the ground. "I, uh, Bernie will be… will be… Bernie will be sorry that he missed you."**

Pyrrha let out a wail and covered her face with the sleeves of her pajama shirt again.

"Fuck you, show! Fuck you!" Yang shouted at the void.

**Christina puts a hand on Al's shoulder and smiles. "Hey Al…"**

**Alfred looks up, and Chris gently gives Al a kiss on the cheek. "Well, goodbye, Al," she finally says.**

**"****Goodbye, Chris…" Al says back to her.**

**Later, back at Alfred's school, the student body is assembled in the activity yard, where the director of the school is giving a speech to all the students gathered in front of him. The school itself is still heavily damaged from the previous attacks, but that hasn't stopped the students from having to show back up.**

**"****This long, terrible war is over, and peace has finally been restored. But along with the soldiers, their families, and their loved ones, this colony too carries deep wounds from their war. Yes, we've lost our school building, yet buildings can be rebuilt. More importantly, we've lost countless parents, brothers, sisters, and friends. This peace was one at the cost of many people's lives. I hope you all will never forget that for as long as you live. And when you grow up, I hope that you will work hard together to create a peaceful world, where a war like this will never happen again."**

"And it does happen again. About five other times, if we exclude events not officially labeled as a war," the mysterious voice chimed in out of nowhere.

"You're not being a helpful host," is the most diplomatic way Ren could put what he was really thinking into words. The glare in his eyes really said it all.

"Yeah, thanks a lot, you asshole…" Yang spat under her breath.

"Meh, I'm not shocked," droned Roman. "It's the way of the world. People fight over shit all the time. Money, booze, women, ass, religion. It's all human nature. We just all want to come out on top."

Once again, Ironwood and Winter hated at how true Roman Torchwick's words were.

**In the crowd, Al is surrounded by his friends. Chay and Telcott are clearly not paying attention, and look generally disinterested in what their school principal has to say. Dorothy is actually paying attention to the speech, but her attention is suddenly pulled away by what's happening next to her. Al himself has broken down into tears, openly weeping at the speech. It's all too much to bear. This peaceful world came at the cost of Bernie's life and his own innocence.**

**"****Al, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Dorothy asks, concerned for her frenemy. "Wait here, I'll get the teacher."**

**As Dorothy walks off to get help, Chay and Telcott turn to their crying friend. "Al, don't cry, come on! You know another war will start soon, and when they close the school, we'll be able to check out all the cool stuff. It'll be more fun than this time!" Chay says in a terrible attempt to calm Al down.**

**"****Yeah," Telcott adds, "Chay is right! And we won't just find empty shells, maybe we'll find some live bullets. And soldiers might even give us their rations too!"**

"They're the WORST EVER! OF ALL TIME!" Weiss sobbed out in anger, before going back to embracing Ruby. Her partner was the only font of comfort she could find the moment, after all.

**As Dorothy arrives with the class' teacher, the shot zooms out away from Al's spot in the school yard, all the way out to the skies of the colony of Libot, and even past that to show the colony cylinder rotating out in the cold, black vacuum of space, intact as if nothing had ever happened to it. The final shot of the episode is a zoom out to show empty space, as the orchestral version of the main theme plays upbeat.**

**The credits of the show roll by, showing various pictures of children interacting with the war in various ways, along with the soldiers fighting it. School girls and a boy pose for a photo in the hand of a Zaku II. A young boy watches a battle happen in space out of the window of the shuttle he's on. A family of refugees, including a son and a daughter, are sitting in the rubble of a building pockmarked with bullet holes. A boy poses next to an EFF soldier standing at a guard post, standing as straight as the guard and holding a toy gun. Children are using the crashed remains of a Zaku II as a way to dive into the sea. A lost child cries as soldiers pass him by. Two children play with their dog on a beach. A little girl is being pulled through a spaceport by her mother. A boy poses on a damaged crosswalk sign. Two small boys are happily showing off bullet casings they found to the camera. EFF forces run into battle on Earth, with a Zaku II firing an assault rifle in the background. A girl looks down at the bleeding corpse of a dead Zeon soldier. A teenager holds a crown of flowers over her head and smiles. A boy draws a doodle of a mobile suit battle on the armor of a crashed Zaku II.**

**And finally… Al and all of his school friends are holding up a banner in happier times, wishing us all a happy new year.**

"Fuck this show!" Yang yelled. "It sucks and it hurts!"

**XXX**

**And there you have it! The finale of Gundam 0080, along with those juicy reactions! I hope they lived up to your expectations. I certainly feel like this is what would happen if the RWBY cast saw this show, but I can't say that all of you would agree with me on that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little experience of mine! But don't tune out just yet, we've still got some final thoughts and an epilogue to wrap things up here. In the meantime, feel free to let me know what you guys think about Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. On my part, I'll freely admit that the emotional pain is still super real, no matter how many times you watch it. Bernie's video at the end always gets me.**

**Anyways, this has been The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Final Thoughts

**And so, here we are, at the end of this reaction series. Hopefully you guys who are familiar with Gundam 0080 enjoyed it, and for you first-timers to the Universal Century of Gundam as a whole, I hope you find some value in this story as well. In either case, I'm sure you're waiting to see what the RWBY's casts final thoughts are. So, let's get to it!**

**XXX**

"I take it that that comment there is your final thoughts on this show?" the mysterious voice asked Yang.

Yang crossed her arms. "Yeah! It's too fucking sad!"

At that, Ironwood shrugged. "I'd say that it's more realistic than sad. What else would you expect from a war like that? When two sides are so determined to wipe each other out, it only makes sense that there's no common ground to be found."

"But they loved each other!" Nora protested, wiping away tears.

Roman let out a dark chuckle. "Do ya think love will really save you, kid? Please, if you honestly thought that, you're even dumber than I thought. When it comes down to it, you fight for your right to live no matter what. Nothing else comes between that." Off to Roman's side, Neo was nodding along to what he was saying, albeit to not a degree where she fully agreed.

"Relationship still do matter, though," came Neo's synthetic voice.

Shrugging, Roman clarified, "Well yeah, you need your connections and stuff to a degree. But don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat."

Blake's ears perked up. She recognized that line. "You stole that from a movie, Roman."

Roman's brows furrowed. "Come again?"

"You totally just took that line from a bank robbery movie," reiterated Blake. From the look on Roman's face, she could tell that she was right. She guessed his thieving wasn't just limited to Dust and other valuables.

"Look, first of all kitty cat, my lines are wholly original. Secondly—" Roman said in his defense, before the mysterious voice cut him off.

"Back to the point, how do you all feel about Gundam 0080?" it asked.

"Sad," Pyrrha replied, her voice now in a flat affect. "Just plain sad."

"Are all the other shows in this series just as depressing?" Jaune asked.

The voice replied, "It honestly depends from series to series. But the generalized answer is yes, all of them have tragic elements to varying amounts. Some are sadder than the others, like the alternate-universe story Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans."

"Well, that's certainly a reassuring name," came Ren's sarcasm. He certainly didn't like the implications of what it meant, if such a depressing series had "orphans" in the title. He hoped that himself and Nora wouldn't have to see it, otherwise it may get too real for the both of them.

"D-do we have to watch any more of this?" Ruby then hesitantly asked, finding her voice. "Like, uh, it was animated well and there was some cool stuff in it, but I'm with Yang. It's too dang sad."

"That's not up to me. It depends on what my superiors want," offered the voice.

"And is there any way we'd have any say in it?" Winter lightly seethed.

The mysterious voice replied breezily, "Not a chance."

"Thanks a fucking lot…" Yang growled.

"Yeah, thanks a lot, you jerks...!" Nora barred her teeth through her tears.

"I'd rather not see any more…" Pyrrha muttered.

If anyone were to look at Pyrrha, they would see that she was utterly emotionally drained. Not only just from the fact that poor Alfred went through so much, but more so for the fact that Jaune and her's apparent doppelgangers were forced to kill one another. Not that she ever expects to find Jaune on the other side of the law and will be forced to hurt him, but even the mere thought was still too much. This show made too many dark thoughts bubble up in her chest for her to fully enjoy, despite the craftsmanship present in it.

Weiss added in, "Yeah, don't bother coming back to us soon. This was deeply unappreciated, I can assure you."

"Again, it's not exactly my position to decide that for you or not," the mysterious voice said.

"Well, then pass it along to your superiors that we don't appreciate being kidnapped and forced to watch sad shows. That should be obvious, but the fact that we're here shows that it's hard for you morons to grasp that," Weiss hissed.

As if ignoring the insult, the voice then said, "And I'd say that just about wraps up the show here. We look forward to having all of you along for another viewing sometime soon."

"Yeah, no," Ren frowned.

"Please don't bring us back…" plead Ruby.

Before anybody else could get in another word, to either complain to the mysterious voice or to attempt to get some kind of explanation of why they were all spirited away to a theater between worlds to watch some mecha show in the first place, reality began to shift and blur around the assembled audience. Colors bled into a tapestry of multi-colored blackness, and it felt as if the ground underneath everyone had suddenly given way to a bottomless void. Wherever they were going, none of the assembled people could find an adequate way to describe how they were getting there…

XXX

Ruby woke up in her bed with a yawn. The sun shining through Team RWBY's dorm room felt nice and warm against her skin. However, that same warmth also served to highlight an odd feeling on her face.

Reaching up to feel her cheek, Ruby could feel the faintest trail of tears trickling down it, as if she had been crying in her sleep. "Did I have a sad dream…?" she quietly asked herself. It honestly wouldn't be the first time that happened. Whenever she dreamt of her mother, she woke up with tears on her face too.

Ruby groaned as she sat up and stretched. She couldn't get a sad dream get to her, after all. After all, she was the leader of a team at Beacon Academy. To let something like that get to her in the morning simply wouldn't do if she wanted to lead her friends to excellence!

At that, Ruby hopped out of her bed and over to where Yang was sleeping. She was always pretty energetic in the mornings too, so waking her up first out of everyone on the team was a good idea. However, just as she reached over to shake Yang on she shoulder, she noticed the telltale signs of tears as well. Did she have a sad dream too?

"Urghhh… I'm up, I'm up…" Yang mumbled as Ruby wiggled her shoulder.

"Good morning, Yang!" was Ruby's chipper greeting.

"Mornin' Rubes…" said Yang as she sat up. Feeling something on her cheeks, she reached up to touch it. From the feeling of it, it was a drying trail of tears.

"I guess you didn't get a good sleep either," Ruby said before Yang could think about the trail of tears.

Yang gave a small shrug. "Huh. I guess not. Oh well, I guess."

The blonde brawler hauled herself up out of bed, and began the process of waking up Blake and Weiss alongside Ruby. It was a common practice at that point. Ruby said it was for 'team unity', but it was probably because Ruby was the most like a morning person out all of them, and wanted others to be in on it.

With the dreams and experiences of last night forgotten, everything felt perfectly normal in the world. At the very least, they could still fight for what they believed in, without the tragedy that that ideal brought in the anime they saw in the place between minds and souls.

After all, wasn't fighting for the right cause what they were here for in the first place, no matter what?

THE END

**XXX**

**And there you have it, we're done! I hope you don't mind how this story ended. I wish I could think of a better resolution, but I feel that all of my other ideas would've dragged on for too long. But, at least I'm fine with how everything else turned out!**

**Also, as some of you guys may have been wondering, I do plan on probably making another reaction fic for RWBY x Gundam again. Although probably not soon, since it really is time consuming. As for what show I may cover, I'm thinking either Gundam Thunderbolt or Gundam F91, but don't hold me to those exactly. I may chose something different. Although, I will say that Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory will NEVER be on the table. I hate Kou Uraki and Nina Purpleton too much to even consider doing that. But other, preferably shorter, stuff is free game at least.**

**So yeah, I hope you all liked this story!**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'm finally signing off on this story!**


End file.
